of them seven hundred and sixty-two
yellow-legs right where they stood. But tarnation! He'd forgotten
all about himself, he was so interested in the science of it. The
back of his neck was right in that circle and the shot came round
true as could be and hit him right there. The force of it was
pretty well spent going so far and killing so many yellow-legs,
but it dented some bits of dogwood leaves right into his system
and he had dogwood poisoning pretty bad. He used to have it every
year after that, about the time the first northeaster set in."

Anybody who knows Muddy Pond will know that Jotham's story ought
to be true, for the pond is there to prove it, just as he
describes it.

*****

"Of course," says Jotham at this point, "that was skill. Not one
hunter in a hundred would have thought to bend his gun so as to
throw the shot in a circle or would have been able to estimate the
amount of the curve so exactly right. Another thing happened to my
grandfather over at that pond that was part skill and part luck.
He was on his way home from partridge shooting one day just before
Thanksgiving. He found he was out of shot just before he got to
the pond. His flask had leaked and let every bit of the shot out,
and when he came to load up after shooting his last partridge he
stopped with the powder, for there was no shot to put in. Just
then he came in sight of the pond and there were seven geese
swimming round in it; and that the day before Thanksgiving!

"It was a tough time to be without any shot, but grandfather was
equal to the emergency. He simply left his ramrod right in the
gun, put on a cap, and began to worm his way through the cedars to
the shore, where he could get a good, close shot at the geese.
Just as he did this another hunter who was no kind of a shot, came
to the other side of the pond and saw the birds. He was one of the
kind that have the buck fever at the sight of game, and he put up
his gun and shot slam at the flock, too far away to do any
execution; then he let out a yell and began to run down to the
shore as fast as he could go.

"Of course he scared the geese and they lit out, swinging right by
grandfather. Grandfather was a nervy hunter. He held his fire till
he got the heads of those seven geese right in line, and then he
shot and strung 'em all right through the eyes with the ramrod.
Granddad couldn't quite see where he had hit 'em, but when the
smoke cleared away he saw the seven geese s