The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1903-11-20
".vhat fools These Mortal. Be-

W. lSll IuCk cACldAAlCu w oAASy5 NAAA6 1
of the fairies, Lord, what fools these
mortals be- he wasn't referring to
ducks-not the aquatic kind, anyhow.
We've been thinking of those fellows
down at Lake Andes the past two
weeks--among them our next door
nelghbor, Tom Berry. and his brother
Lee of Chamberlain, and photographer
Barton of bhe same city. They have
been there with party from Alexan-
dria and a passel of local hunters
all through the freezing weather OF
last week and since, housed in
shanty by the lake and-enioyinR
themselves.
| 'sLord, what fools these mortals be. !"
If somebody would offer those
hunters SIS day and board to camp
out in shanty on a school section
and shoot at a mark in the grey OF
the morning they'd ask him if his
grandmother wasn't a monkey But
if you're just hunting ducks, or
deer, Or anything that Will shed
blood if hit in the right spot-well.
that's quite another thing.
Lord, what fools these mortals be-
and there was never a bigger one in
the bunch than the writer Of these
Ilines-and he hasn't fully recovered
mot yet. Many a day in his Younger.
years was spent on the marshes OF
the Great Lakes in bleak November
cutting down the wary canvasback
and his first cousin, the redhead. Out
at 4 in the morning hours be-
fore edaylight-with a French Canadian
guide to pilot the way with a boat
full OF decoys; punting the boats
through ice formed in the ponds
and ''cut-otfs' the night before, with
the wind coming off the lake cold
enough to freeze yer gizzard; spray
Freezing the instant it hit a boat
drifting ice everywhere over al
the swish and whlr of wings that
causes your blood to tingle like cleo
tricity and brings shivering whim
per from the little spaniel cur]ea III
4 IN the bow. Overheard go the de
coys-seventy-five or hundred o1
them-and in twenty minutes from
the bill of every one hangs an icycle
two inches long. Splash! down goes. I
canvasback- splash and TIL
little retriever is pushing his wa.
through broken ice for the kickin
bird on the edge Of the rushes. Wit
every fresh trip the wash of the Sc
over bis back adds to the sheet ofElc
on it until it is half an inch thick. j
on shore he'd roll it Off; can't do tina
ina boat and sometimes you have t
pull his hair lose where it is frozen
the boat-but he's as big a fool as q
master-and so the fun ~ goes 9
until both man and dog are so col
THAT both have to 60 to the neares
shore and run around in the reeds an
grass to keep from freezing stiff, quit
But oh. the blessed experience OF
the getting back to red-hot suppt
of broiled duck, baked potatoe
johnnycake and coffee-long aftt
dark fragrant after-supper Gig;
or the sweet briar pipe-the recoun
ing Of the days excitement n
DER all the warmth Of the roaring fl
) 1 perhaps a big fireplace and BLAIR
backlog, near which sleeps the fait
, | ful retriever, his slumbers only di
| turbed by little whimpering barks
| he lives in his dreams the chase
that last winged redhead. A feelil
Of sweet content and drowsiness stes
over you; softly the arm drops oy
the side Of the big chair; the bri
slips from the neryeless fingers al
over you steals sleep that bless
sleep which only comes after q q
with the dog and the gun.
cIYRsCRTRE% For, THE RAPHTC