for that place where they hoped to find more corn. The hunter
crouched lower. They were almost near enough for him to shoot when
"bang, bang" went a gun a short distance away.

Instantly Dusky and his flock turned and on swift wings swung off
and up the river. If ever there was a disappointed hunter, it was
the one crouching in that blind. "Somebody else is hunting, and he
spoiled my shot that time," he muttered. "He must have a blind
farther down. Probably some other Ducks I didn't see came in to
him. I wonder if he got them. Here's hoping that next time those
Ducks come in here first."

He once more made himself comfortable and settled down for a long
wait. The Black Shadows crept out from the farther bank of the Big
River. Jolly, round red Mr. Sun had gone to bed, and the first
little star was twinkling high overhead. It was very still and
peaceful. From out in the middle of the Big River sounded a low
"quack"; Dusky and his flock were swimming in this time. Presently
the hunter could see a silver line on the water, and then he made
out nine black spots. In a few minutes those Ducks would be where he
could shoot them. "Bang, bang" went that gun below him again. With
a roar of wings, Dusky and his flock were in the air and away. That
hunter stood up and said things, and they were not nice things. He
knew that those Ducks would not come back again that night, and that
once more he must go home empty-handed. But first he would find out
who that other hunter was and what luck he had had, so he tramped
down the shore to where that gun had seemed to be. He found the
blind of Farmer Brown's boy, but there was no one there. You see, as
soon as he had fired his gun the last time, Farmer Brown's boy had
slipped out and away. And as he tramped across the Green Meadows