see any feathers! No, Sir, he couldn't see any feathers! Then he
understood.

"Huh!" said he to himself. "Those are not Ducks at all. They are
just pieces of wood made to look like Ducks. Now I wonder what they
are for."

In a few minutes he found out. He saw the hunter crouch down a
little lower and look down the Big River. Sammy looked too. He saw
a flock of real Ducks flying swiftly just above the middle of the
Big River. Suddenly the leader turned straight towards the place
where the hunter was hiding, and the others followed him. He could
hear Mrs. Quack calling excitedly out in the middle of the Big
River, but the strangers did not heed her. They had their eyes on
those wooden Ducks and were coming straight in to join them.

"They think they are real Ducks and so this place is perfectly
safe!" thought Sammy. He saw the hunter make ready to shoot with his
terrible gun and then, without stopping to think what might happen
to him, he opened his mouth and screamed at the top of his voice.
He saw the Ducks suddenly swing out towards the middle of the Big
River and knew that they had heard his warning. He saw the hunter
suddenly rise and point his gun at the flying Ducks. He heard the
bang, bang of the terrible gun, but not one of the flock was hit. The
distance was too great. Sammy chuckled happily. Then he remembered
that he himself was within easy reach of that terrible gun, and
probably the hunter was very angry. In great fright Sammy turned
and flew, dodging behind trees and every second expecting to hear
again the roar of that terrible gun.