found no sign of the missing Mr. Quack.

"I guess Mrs. Quack was right and that Mr. Quack was killed when
he was shot," muttered Sammy to himself. "Probably one of those
hunters had him for dinner long ago. Hello! There's another hunter
up where the Laughing Brook joins the Big River! I guess I won't
take any chances. I'd like to find Mr. Quack, but Sammy Jay is a
lot more important to me than Mr. Quack, and that fellow just might
happen to take it into his head to shoot at me."

So Sammy silently flew around back of the hunter and stopped in a
tree where he could watch all that the man did. For some time Sammy
sat there watching. The hunter was sitting behind a sort of fence
of bushes which quite hid him from any one who might happen to be
out on the Big River. But of course Sammy could see him perfectly,
because he was behind him. Out in front of that little fence, which
was on the very edge of the water, were a number of what Sammy
at first took to be some of Mrs. Quack's relatives. "Why doesn't
he shoot them?" thought Sammy. He puzzled over this as he watched
them until suddenly it came into his head that he hadn't seen one
of them move since he began watching them. The man changed his
position, and still those Ducks didn't move, although some of them
were so near that they simply couldn't have helped knowing when the
hunter moved unless they were more stupid than any one of Sammy's
acquaintance.

This was very curious, very curious indeed. Sammy flew a little
nearer and then a little nearer, taking the greatest care not to
make a sound. Pretty soon he was so near that he could see those
Ducks very plainly, and he stared with all his might. He couldn't