g something of this
sort. Maybe it'll work on geese, though it looks like a mighty funny
kind of shot-gun to me."

"It's an old weapon of wild people," said Rob. "I've read about that
sort of thing. They use it in South America for catching animals, and
there they call it the _bolas_, or balls. I think they use stones down
there, and of course they are a great deal heavier than these little
ivory weights."

He motioned to Skookie to show how he proposed to use this curious
device. The Aleut, understanding perfectly what was required, again
caught the thongs by their central ring and deftly began to whirl them
about his head. Aiming at a post which stood up in the grass near the
barabbara, he finally cast loose his whirling thongs, which promptly
wrapped tightly around the post as they flew. The young brown hunter
grinned at this, and all the boys were surprised at the force with which
the thongs clung about the object of the aim.

"Jinks!" said John. "I shouldn't wonder if they'd kill a bird, if they
hit it, or anyhow tie it up. The question is, how can you get close
enough to the geese to catch them with this sort of arrangement. A goose
is about the wildest thing in the world. I don't suppose Skookie could
hit anything very far."

"I don't know," mused Rob. "But why not let him try? If the birds are
done nesting, and the young ones are flying, they would make a mighty
good addition to our table if we could get some of them."

Another flock of geese passed by. Rob pointed from the thong-cords
toward the geese.

"S'pose you catch-um?" he asked of Skookie.

The boy smiled, and without a word picked up his thongs and led the way
along the shore of the lagoon. The others followed, seeing that he
proposed to capture some wild-fowl in the native way, as he had once
before intimated might be done.

He was no bad hunter, this young savage. After locating a big flock of
geese which were sunning themselves on the mud flats close to the grass,
he led his companions far back from the water, making a wide detour. At
length he began to approach the fowl from a point where they would be
concealed by the heavy grass. It seemed an age to the white boys, but
Skookie was in no hurry. Like a cat he crawled and crawled, a few inches
at a time, until finally he reached a point where they could hear the
contented croaking and jabbering of the geese as they rested, entirely
unsuspicious of any danger. It must be remembered that in t