Lower coast gazette., 1913-11-29

our pockets bulged with shells; the
overseer and Prince were armed only
with old-time iron muskets, unwieldly,
outworn, gaping at the seams, but
deadly.
1t was about ten o'clock in the morn
ing when we took our stands in the
field. I remember the hot, unwhole-
some smell from the water in which
the rice stood, and how fiercely the
sun beat down on our heads and
shoulders. AS soon as we were in
position, we began to shoot. Prince
reused the birds in the middle of the
field, and as the yellow hordes rose
out Of the rice, he poured a thunder
Gus load into them. The vast flock, :
scattered wildly; each bird flew its
own way. Then individuals gathered
into little bands, the bands formed
| focks, and soon the great concourse
was again united. | saw them COM
ing. toward me, actually darkening the
morning sun. / stopped low in the
rice, and when they had almost reach
ed me, / rose suddenly, whooped to
make them ball." and shot into the
blacklist part of the cloud. They start
ed across the river, but seeing no place
to alight ahead of them, they turned
up toward the Sam Hill Strand, where
Tom was on guard.
He greeted them with two barrels,
and they swerved over into a heavy
patch Of timothy on the upland, and
settled down. We knew, however, that
they would not stay there as long as
there was rice in sight; in a very few
minutes back they came. Wise and
wary leaders chose for them a strip
of tall. fine rice on the edge of the
field, and beyond our immediate pro-
lection. AS they happened to be near
est Henry, he climbed out on the bank
and walked round on the edge to
rouse them.
When they rose, they did so re-
luctantly, and flying low across the
field, alighted in the square that Hen
ry had just left. 1t looked like the
beginning of a game of seesaw that
would be difficult for u side to
play. But the overseer's strategy was
equal to it. When, on his return to
his stand, the birds flew back to the
margin where we expected they would
20. Henry drew his load of shot, and
Wadded in place of it a single aattened
buckshot. This he fired above the
feeding birds. The effect was instan-.
taneous. The fiat shot sang Weirdly;
could hear it from where ! was
standing. The birds seemed far more
afraid of the harmless bullet than
they were Of a charge of deadly
shot. The whole flock rose tumultu-
ously, and flew wildly away. Later,
Henry told us that the leaden disk
made a sound like the rush of air
through tire wings Of a sharp-shin-
i ned hawk, one Of the rice-birds' most
dreaded enemies.
The fight went on all day, and in
. spite Of our efforts, the number Q
birds seemed to increase every hour.
). Beneath the blazing sun We stood IN
the hot water that gave off fever1sn
:, odors of decaying vegetation. Untli
! late in the afternoon we batt!ed with
t the yellow hordes; then the invaders
began to withdraw, some to the gras-
8 sy uplands, and some to the patches
Of marsh that had not been submerg-
J ed. Still others rose high in the ar
and headed in a s~outheasterly direc-
t ton. We supposed that they were
. bound for the Cooper River pianta-
tions. /,
. At shutdown, when W. came out OF
: the field, the freshet had receded near
. ly a foot, and we knew that the next
day the rlce-birds would find other
fields in which to forage. Tom and
2 | were tired, but very happy alnc
. proud of our days work.
Prince we'll expressed U state Of
exhaustion when he said that "a
. school of terrapin could run VI
: down." -,
/ do not think Tom and ! ever fell
E more like men than we did when We
drove home through the twilight
What we had done had required en-
durance and skill, although the re
$ suits that we had accomplished were
t not to be measured by the actua
i work. We had saved the whole rice
crop.
The following day we took the rice
birds that we had killed to the VII
LACE. and distributed them among ou'
friends, some of whom, to return tn
= favor. invited us to come the next ia.
\ and clean up against" their arbor
Of "scuppernong" grapes.-Youth,
Companion.