Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-08

INaducking season this year will be fine
III ~ one. We arrived here last Saturday
Badly, Howard and your humble ser
~ vant-and Immediately commenced to
make preparations for a weeks cunning. Our
hut, while it cannot vie with some Of your fash
ionable residences in Washington, is, never
theless, just as coy. The house is of frame,
with two rooms. A description of the interior
might prove interesting.
To enter you cross a large veranda, which en-
circles the house, and, pushing the door open
(for the latch string always hangs on the out
slde). you find yourself in large room nearly
twenty-five feet square. In front of you is q
large open fireplace and the door to the left
OF 1t opens into the store room, where the dry
wood is kept. The room to the right is the
kitchen. The three comfortable lounges you
notice around the room are the beds, and royal
ones they are; all stuffed with ducks down and
as warm as you would wish. The table in the
center of the room is where We while away the
time when the ducks are not flying, and those
mounted specimens you notice about the room
| are all trophies. Each one has a story con-
nected with it. This brace OF gray malard
cost Badly his gun. Shall l tell you the story?
All right; here goes:
HOW BALDY LOST HIS GUN.
1t was just about this time last year that
Baldy and were down here. Ducks had been
| scarce right along when one moonlight night,
| as we sat on the porch smoking, we heard a
terrible quacking, and looking in the direc-
| ton Of the noise, saw clearly outlined against
| the sky as large bunch of mallards as / ever
saw. Look here, old man." said Badly to me.
I'VE will have to hunt the creek tomorrow, for
those mallard are going to stop there sure"
We got our traps ready that night, put a
couple of dozen decoys in the skiff and went
| to bed The alarm clock went crazy at 8
| o'clock and We we're dressed in jffy. Badly
raked the embers over and built q roaring
| good fire in the stove, while l cooked break
| fast. Well, no matter what We had, it was good
and substantial The inner man having been
| looked after We pushed the skiff off and COM
menced to paddle for the.creek. three miles
| away. 1t didn't take US long to make the dis
lance, and we had plenty of time to spare when
| We reached the mouth of the creek, which is
quite broad at this point but narrows
down to a skiff's width two miles up
among the waunkapins Now, the
waunkapins are favorite food for ducks and we
decided to make for that part of tho creek
where they grew the thickest. The first gray
streaks of the coming dawn were just appear
ing. chasing away tho darker shadows of the
night. when we landed at the edge of the waun.
kapln bed Away off in the distance came
sound as IL a thousand men wero smacknc
their chops, having just finished something
good to eat. 1t was the ducks feeding. Badly
suggested that we put out stool OF decoys and
lay in the waunkapins until it was good and
light, when he thought the ducks would COM
mence to fly. The idea didn't strike me as be-
ing particularly brilliant, for it was cold
weather and the wind was blowing sharply
so after council of war, carried on in whis-
pers, 1t was decided to go after the ducks
1t was light enough now to make out the
narrow channel, and sprawling ourselves in the
bottom of the boat, Badly in the bow to do the
shooting and l aft to do the padding. we Jour-
neyed on. The smacking sound grew louder
and louder as with every push of the creeping
paddles the boat approached nearer and nearer
to the game.
There they are" said Badly in a trembling
whisper. after we had gone about half q mile.
"Shall let em have it?"
ceased padding for q moment and looked
above the gunwale of the boat. Sure enough
there they were off to the right, feeding away
as unconcernedly as possible. One big drake
on the outer edge the sentinel and he
seemed somewhat disturbed, for he swan
about in a circle, cooking his head right and
left and quacking vigorously. l was about to
tell Badly to let 'em have it when he moved
That was enough the old drake quacked an
alarm and all got up. making a great deal of
russ, and New past TO our left. Badly turned
and fired both barrels in rapid succession
The next thing l remember was vainly trying
to swim.
THE BOAT HAD TURNED OVER.
managed to get my feet finally. for the
water was quite shallow-only waist deed and
looked about for Badly. There he stock about
ten feet away in a bed Of bubbles. rubbing his
eyes rs though wondering what had happened
While the skiff was doing its utmost to round q
| curve in the channel, no doubt disguised with
| Its owners. We soon collected our senses,
secured the truant boat and righted her. When
we came to count up there was gun missing.
The decoys being OF wood were easily recov-
cred. But the gun, like McGinty, was at the
bottom of the sea, and try as we might it
couldn't be found. All this time we khadu t
thought anything about the result OF the shot
as the ducks flew past. Badly reminded me of
1t and we started to look for some evidence Of
his Workmanship. We were well repaid for
there among the lilies lay three plump gray
mallard. l grabbed them as Badly pushed by
aud slowed them away in the stern. 1t was uuan-
| imously agreed that John Howard Payne's song
| WAS never more appropriate, as Badly carried
| the tune while joined in the chorus 1t took
US long time to reach home and when we did
there stood Howard, who had come down on
the early boat, waiting for us. He had to as
| sist US out of the boat. for our legs were be-
numbed An application of corn Juice, ex-
ternally and internally, good fire to toast our
| Sims by and, above all, those mallard baked
with their skins off for dinner set us all right.
The skins were sent to town next day and these
are the result
DIFFERENT KINDS OF DUCKS.
But there, started in to tell you something
about the ducking OH the lower Potomac. The
first snap Of cold weather generally brings
ducks. The first to arrive are the rocks, a
small duck about the size Of o teal with as fine
flavor as you would wish. They are pretty
little fellows, OF a dark brown color with a
bronze neck, and as brave as a game cock
| They are the sworn enemies OF the royal can
vas-back and seem to take great delight in an
moving them, but not without purpose.
You know the canvas-back is the most par
/ ticular OF the feathered tribe in selecting it's
food-in fact it won't eat any thing until after it
! has been thoroughly washed. The wild celery,
which abounds in the Potomac and Its many
| small tributaries and which increases the COM
mercial value OF the ducks, the canvas back 8
principal food. 1t grows from one to ten feet
under water. Now the canvas-back is one of
the few ducks that can stay under water long
time; so they generally select a spot where
wild celery grows some distance down, and ex-
| perience no difficulty in reaching it The rock
/ generally follows the canvas-pack, and
as soon as one appears with q bunch
| OF celery to wash Mr.. Rock makes q rush,
| grabs the celery and is of. II has often been
stated and with great deal Of truth that II
takes an expert to distinguish a portion Of ii
after being cooked from canvas-back. 1t is
| an easy matter to kill them early in the season
| by creeping on them, but after they have been
shot at few times they grow wary. Some
gunners claim that they cannot be decoycd,
but they are mistaken-any duck will decoy to
q stool Of correctly painted decoys
| MALLARD IN GOOD NUMBERS.
Mallard are arriving in goody numbers now,