ious remark--`There is a tide in the affairs of
men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,' or something to
that effect. I never feel quite sure of the literal correctness of my
quotations, although I am generally certain as to the substance. Well,
there is a tide also in the affair of getting up in the morning, and its
flood-point is the precise instant when you recover consciousness. At
that moment every one, I believe, has moral courage to leap violently
out of bed; but let that moment pass, and you sink supinely back, if not
to sleep, at least into a desperate condition of unconquerable
lethargy."

"You may be very correct in your reasoning," returned Peterkin; "but not
having pondered that subject quite so deeply as you seem to have done, I
shall modestly refrain from discussing it. Meanwhile I will go ashore,
and stalk yonder duck which floats so comfortably and lazily in the cove
just beyond the point ahead of us, that I think it must be in the
condition of one who, having missed the flood-tide you have just
referred to, is revelling in the luxury of its second nap.--Ho, you
ebony-faced scoundrel!" he added, turning to the negro who steered our
canoe; "shove ashore, like a good fellow.--Come, Ralph, lend me your
fowling-piece, and do you carry my big rifle. There is nothing so good
for breakfast as a fat duck killed and roasted before it has had time to
cool."

"And here is a capital spot on which to breakfast," said I, as we
landed.

"First-rate. Now then, follow me, and mind your muzzle. Better put the
rifle over your shoulder, Ralph, so that if it does go off it may hit
the sun or one of the stars. A six-ounce ball in one's spine is not a
pleasant companion in a hunting expedition."

"But," retorted I, "you forget that I am particularly careful. I always
carry my piece on half-cock, and _never_ put my finger on the trigger."

"Indeed: not even when you pull it?"

"Of course when I am about to fire; but you know well enough what I
mean."

"Hush, Ralph! we must keep silence now and step lightly."

In a few minutes we had gained the clump of bushes close behind which
the duck lay; and Peterkin, going down on all fours, crept forward to
get a shot. I followed him in the same manner, and when he stopped to
take a deliberate aim, I crept up alongside. The duck had heard our
approach, and was swimming about in a somewhat agitated manner among the
tall reeds, so that my companion made one