“There was a sight on them a piece back, but they’re gittin’ scase—pretty scase now, I tell you. Yes, I shot these down by Aunt Sally’s big spring-hole a Friday. I’d been a lookin’ round, you see, to find where the quail kept afore you came up here—for I’d a been expectin’ you a week and better—and I’d got in quite late, toward sundown, with an outsidin’ bevy, down by the cedar swamp, and druv them off into the big bog meadows, below Sugarloaf, and I’d killed quite a bunch on them—sixteen, I reckon, Archer; and there wasn’t but eighteen when I lit on ’em—and it was gittin’ pretty well dark when I came to the big spring, and little Dash was worn dead out, and I was tired, and hot, and thunderin’ thirsty, so I sets down aside the outlet where the spring water comes in good and cool, and I was mixin’ up a nice, long drink in the big glass we hid last summer down in the mud-hole, with some _great_ cider sperrits—when what should I hear all at once but whistle, whistlin’ over head, the wings of a whole drove on ’em, so up I buckled the old gun; but they’d plumped down into the crick fifteen rod off or better, down by the big pin oak, and there they sot, seven ducks and two big purple-headed drakes—beauties, I tell you. Well, boys, I upped gun and tuck sight stret away, but just as I was drawin’, I kind o’ thought I’d got two little charges of number eight, and that to shoot at ducks at fifteen rod wasn’t nauthen. Well, then, I fell a thinkin’, and then I sairched my pockets, and arter a piece found two green cartridges of number three, as Archer gave me in the spring, so I drawed out the small shot, and inned with these, and put fresh caps on to be sarten. But jest when I’d got ready, the ducks had floated down with the stream, and dropped behind the pint—so I downed on my knees, and crawled, and Dash alongside on me, for all the world as if the darned dog knowed; well, I crawled quite a piece, till I’d got under a bit of alder bush, and then I seen them—all in a lump like, except two—six ducks and a big drake—feedin’, and stickin’ down their heads into the weeds, and flutterin’ up their hinder eends, and chatterin’ and jokin’—I could have covered them all with a handkercher, exceptin’ two, as I said afore, one duck and the little drake, and they was off a rod or better from the rest, at the two different sides of the stream—the big bunch warn’t over ten rods off me, nor so far; so I tuck sight right at the big drake’s neck. The water was quite clear and still, and seemed to have caught all the little light as was left by the sun, for the skies had got pretty dark, I tell you; and I could see his head quite clear agin the water—well, I draw’d trigger, and the hull charge ripped into ’em—and there was a scrabblin’ and a squatterin’ in the water now, I tell you—but not one on ’em riz—not the fust one of the hull bunch; but up jumped both the others, and I drawed on the drake—more by the whistlin’ of his wings, than that I seen him—but I drawed stret,