The Press., 1900-02-08
MUD HENS HIS PREY.
He Thought Them Ducks and Blaxei
Away ut Great Rate.

He Thought Them Ducks and Blaxed
Away at 81 Great Rate.
81 was somewhere along in the teens
when the tragedy took place, u long
legged, gauder shanked, country gawk.
l was at that time the possessor of a
new ten gauge breechloader and an in
satiable appetite for killing game and
especially wild fowl-verily, a pitiless
combination. | wish to record it here
that l am not the least bit proud Of my
share in the transaction, but it happen
ed good many years ago, so l will
risk telling it,
81 had spent the day in the woods
chopping and was returning home
shortly after shutdown, pretty we'll fag-
ged out and hungry enough to eat a
sawdust ham. Between the woods and
house lay mile wide strip of low bot
tom land. dotted with rice ponds and
small lakes, the favorite loafing place
for all the ducks and mud hens in the
country. 1t was late in the fall. The
ponds were covered with an icy
blanket, the wild fowl had migrated,
leaving the bottom deserted of bird
life Nevertheless, as l crossed the
bottom, from force of habit, suppose,
was, as the boys say, 'rubbering' for
ducks
'In passing the foot of a long, mar
row lake my vigilance was rewarded.
A quarter of mile up the lake be-
held, to my amaZement, big air hole
black with ducks. They were not there
when l passed in the morning, and
was at a loss to account for their sud-
den appearance, but as gazed wonder
was replaced by wild frenzy Of ex-
ultation. l would get my gun and
murder the whole mass or as many as
possible before they flew and then
brag to the boys Of the number of
ducks l had killed at one shot. Noble
thought! Fatigue was forgotten, and
barely touched ground as 1 flew over
the bottoms.
1.-THE purple shades of evening were
slowly dimming all objects as a long
legged specter sneaked crouching along
the rush fringed bank of the lake up to
the air hole where the unsuspecting
ducks were sporting. There was a
fash, a roar, and swath was now
ed through the huddled fowls. l had
counted on their springing into the air
at one jump, when l would tunnel an
other hole through them. To my utter
establishment, not bird of them offer
ed to fy-just sl0shed around the air
hole little and settled down, wonder
ing where the earthquake came from.
"'Bully! They're dazed with the cold.
| Maybe l can kill them ALL l exulted.
Another swath was cut. leaving an
| other blanket of dead birds on the wa
ter. Instead Of flying the survivors only
huddled together the closer. Funniest
| ducks l ever shot at. Must be hole
full Of cripples. If it is, may as well
kill them and get them out of their
misery You see, was getting
ashamed of myself and was apologize
ing. Another charge went tearing
across the water.
"That time something come MY
battery had been planted at such eff
fective range that nothing could stand
the fire and live. There was a general
| exodus from that air hole, but Pm a
| sinner If the whole outfit. instead of
| flying, didn't crawl out on the ice and
uh Ill OH lCSlAoho' ACh III IAC LII 81
| time l smelled a rodent. In slang Ian
guage, l 'tumbled.' l had been pour
| ing charge after charge into a belated
swarm of worthless mud hens.
81 was disguised. My feelings were
| hurt, my pride was wounded. took one
look at the objects of my unholy am
bition and, shouldering my gun, sneak
ed off home soliloquizing:
"'My son, you are brilliant and
| successful duck hunter. What you
know about the characteristics of
ducks and mud hens would make an
exceedingly valuable book for crema-
tory purposes. Had you possessed the
brains of tumblebug you would have
seen at glance the situation. Evil
| IDENTIFY the distance from the outside of
| your Uranium to the gray matter with
| in Gf there Is any is Sabbath days
| Journey
'"The next morning l walked around
by the air hole. Thirty-five dead mud
hens lay frozen in the ice. The bal.
| ance had migrated at ght."-Minne.
| apolis Journal