Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-11-18

matched nowhere perhaps but i'll the; rainbow. the northern lights, in blood and ill fire.
 In a glade in the woods, l saw gray squirrel eating a nut, sitting mean while on a carpet of fallen leaves-ai carpet in gorgeous contrast to his own sober dress. He was not afraid, for we had often met before. so I sat down, too, and watched him rip away the hard shell by using his long front teeth as levers. When he had finished, he looked about until he found another, and when he had eaten that he began to gather grass and leaves, which he carried in an oak tree nearby.
 Thus occupied left him, and walked through the wood until I saw between the trees the blue waters of the lake. Far away. mile perhaps, was a rock projecting from the water, and it was dazzling white with the plumage of seagulls which covered it. Other gulls were upon the wing, wheeling grace fully in lazy circles far above their brethren, and others still foated light ly on the surface of the lake, bobbing up and down among the whitecaps from which at times 1t was impossible to distinguish them. These things I could see with my naked eyes, but with my field glass I could see something more. Out from the end of point of land were some little black dots, which might have been stones in the water but for the fact that stones would not move about as those dots did. They were black ducks, which had dropped into the lake the night before to re- main for time ere they continued their journey to the southward. I made a wide detour, keeping we'll under cover, as I wished to see the birds at closer range. Following a belt of wood land which skirted the shore of the lake, I came within a quarter of mile of the ducks without being seen. There were far more of them than I had sup posed, between three and four hundred. as near as I could count, but only | few were in the water. The rest were I on the shore, sitting about in different attitudes, preening their plumage or | dabbling in the mud among the stones. But some of them discovered me, | think, for the whole flock suddenly made for the water, and started to swim away. But as though the speed l they made was not fast enough to suit them, they took to the wing, and wheeled around to the other side of the point where they dropped into the lake again. Between us was the round ed back of a glassy promontory, and across this I went, hidden by the ris- | ing ground. But soon the top was l nI1 n6 ~I io I {Vo s{oeI~% x~R 1 the wild ducks which turned to swim away. That I might see them nearer, 1 if only for a moment, I ran forward toward the shore with all my might | The ducks did not rise at once, but when they found me gaining on them they sprang from the water, at first a few, but followed rapidly by the rest, a dark cloud filled with whistling wings and scattering a sunshower of heavy drops from their wet shining feet. They were not greatly alarmed, and after short flight, they splashed into the lake again and became strung | out across the water, where with the naked eye they might easily be mis- taken for the shadow sides of wavelets.
 But the ducks were not the only l birds which I had alrmed, for the sulls upon the rock had also arisen. half a thousand strong, whirling and turn ing in the air like the flakes of a Brob- dinagian snow storm. And presently they came down to the water, but not 1 with a splash as the ducks had done they settled lightly, and paused for just moment with their shining pin ions pointed to the sky like the main- sails of miniature yachts; and then the sails were furled, and the white fleet, riding high upon the water, was ap- parently at anchor.
 FINEST HAROLD BAYNES.
 The Letter "'T."