"There goes something, Herrick," said Mr Brooke just then, and I looked up and saw a bird flying over the river at a tremendous rate. I raised my piece quickly, fired, and as soon as I was a little clear of the smoke, fired again. "You hit him, sir!" said our stroke-oar. "I see him wag his tail." "It was a miss," I said quietly. "Velly good," whispered Ching. "Allee men in other boat look see;" while I replaced the cartridges in my gun, and looked shoreward, to see that the land was level for miles, and that little flocks of duck or other birds were flying here and there. Soon after a wisp of about a dozen came right over head, and as they approached the men rested upon their oars till Mr Brooke had fired, without result. He looked at me and smiled, while the men pulled again, and we went merrily along, getting a shot now and then, but the result for the game-bag was very meagre indeed, at which I was not surprised on my own account, but I fully expected Mr Brooke to have done some good. And still we went on along the great river, with the country, save for the distant mountains, looking wonderfully English, and making it hard to believe that we were in China. In places where we were close to the shore I could see forms of growth different to our own, but at a little distance the trees, shrubs, and reeds looked much the same as those we should have encountered at home, and I confess to feeling a little disappointed. Then all at once, as if he too were suffering from the same sensation, Mr Brooke spoke. "They will laugh at us when we get back, Herrick," he said, "as far as our birds are concerned, but I am beginning to think that we shall find the pirate junks are somewhere up here." "You think so, sir? Look, a flock coming this way!" "Of pirate junks?" he said drily. "No, sir, ducks." "Give it them, then, my lad--both barrels." I took aim and fired both barrels quickly one after the other, but as I drew trigger I felt that I had done wrong, for I had aimed right in front of the swiftly-flying flock. "Umbrellas up!" shouted one of the men. "Rains geese!" and there was a cheer and a roar of laughter, as one by one five geese fell with a splash in the river, two to lie perfectly still while they were retrieved--the others, poor birds, to make desperate efforts to swim broken-winged away, but to be shot one by one by Mr Brooke, and after a sharp row dragged into the boat. "Velly nicee," said Ching, smiling. "Yes, I must take lessons in shooting from you, Mr Herrick," said the young lieutenant, smiling. "It's my turn next." I felt hot and uncomfortable, for my success seemed to be the result of pure accident, and I said so, but Mr Brooke laughed and shook his head. "Never mind the birds, Herrick," he said; "I feel sure our other game is close by somewhere." "Yes, up cleek somewhere," said Ching. "Why do you say that?"