The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-01-14
mailards and not "a feather Yell.


mailards and not q feather Tell.
As theE guns cracked q black swarm
arose further out, rose against the
Wind. and streaIned away over the
Farmer and his companion. The ducks
were not more than 40 yards high when
they passed above the couple, and the
journalist turned loose both Barrels.
h;iis Missing was impossible. Seven blue
pliis came raining down. The Farmer
nad diEdained to shoot. rhe Engineer
grinned at the Doctor.
said. 80 'f' --s
As they went on. making as. little
noise as possible, they flushed MANY
ducks. 1n fact the birds rose every 90
S,,t ySfds i 9r,,so. =, but all rose some yards
the wind. BY the time the Doctor and
the Engineer got UP their guns the
birds had added ten yards to the dis
tance and were still climbing.
Rea!lgetion came TO them that thew
were were IN for hard time, but they re-
FUSED to surrender hope. They could
near the guns OF their opponents and
now ana then see a duck fall, but they
had bagged u half-doxen birds them
serves and believed their luck would
change.
frightened amallerd drake leaped high *
yards away. It5s initial spring carried
~ ~ feet In the air. With the wind
bearing against its breast IL stood al
most on sts tail In the cir.
They could see its green head flash
,ng diKe an emerald I'm the sun and the
neck and the beautiful blended hues Of
the back, wings and tail, They could
even see for the instant the little
CURED feathers at the root of the tale.
It. was shot which the Farmer
EoulG have made with the right barrel
IN Two second and thought nothing of
1t. His old gun would have Jumped
instinctively to his shoulder and the
DarrelS would have hidden all of the
pird except the very top Of its head
ana 1t would have gone dead, hit hard
about the middle. ..
But the Doctor shot under it with
ms right and q yard to one side with
his left, because the drake was both
cilmping and spfraling, and the En-
glneer shot away under with both bar
rels as the mallard sailed ON Seventy
badly frightened, It's wings beating
behind 1t. ss '1.>
The. pair followed, It with anathe-
mas. Then they were conscious that
the FARMER had dropped to the ground
initiated him..
A single puff Of srl.4.Ese rose from the
ciump of weeds hiding the Farmer.
IL looked to be an impossible shot, vet
the drake'S wings shut spasmodically
and 1t whirled over and over in its de-
scent, stone dead long before it's plump
bndy struck the soft edge OF the marsh.
Tie Doctor drew long breath and
said:
There's something in that No. 2s
theory sure"
That was rare shooting on the wind
blown H1yfft,
black against the sky and the thunder
or the surf close by and the fresh wind
with the taste Of salt in it. There ia
such a thing as sitting In q blind when
birds are thick and butchering them
with right and left barrels and such
q thing as walking them up, when the
Wariness of the swift creatures and
the cover in which they hide and the
wind are all In their favor, and the lat
ter much more closely approaches
true sport. That day the houseboat
party got duck shooting at its best,
for the shots were often difficult and
not too numerous. iis
The rival pairs met at the end OF the
marsh and the scores stood: Farmer
and Journalist, ten mallards eight
Dluebills. three sprigs and five teal:
Doctor and Engineer, one mallard, two
sprfgs and ten teal. y, :.
Alphonse gave them q good dinner
that nlght-gumbo fllet' redf1sh stuffed
with oysters, roast mallards dressed
with peppered olives, O salad, cheese
and black coffee; but what is good
dinner to men who have to rise from
table and schrub flannel shirts stiff
enough to stand alone? In the yellow
light Of the oil lamp the Doctor and
the Engineer. bumped over the tubs
with old fashioned washboards,
schrubbed and schrubbed, while the
Farmer, at ease on the divan, smoked
perique cigarettes, and the Journalist.
sucking: 9 cob pipe, between puffs re-
cited them reams Of his own poetry.