ng ventures for "varmints," at which he seemed
to have moderate success, for he often brought in a wildcat or coyote.
In fact, he maintained one of the former in a cage, to what end nobody
knew, for it was a harsh and unsociable character. Uncle Jim began to
show signs of life about July fifteenth when the dove season opened; he
came into his own from the middle of October until the first of
February, during which period one can shoot both ducks and quail; he
died down to the bare earth when the game season was over, and only sent
up a few green shoots of interest in the matter of supplying his
wildcat with that innumerable agricultural pest, the blackbird.

Sometimes I accompanied Uncle Jim, occupying the other side of the
two-wheeled cart. We never had any definite object in view; we just went
forth for adventure. The old horse jogged along very steadily,
considering the fact that he was as likely to be put at cross country as
a road. We humped up side by side in sociable silence, spying keenly for
what we could see. A covey of quail disappearing in the brush caused us
to pull up. We hunted them leisurely for a half hour and gathered in a
dozen birds. Always we tried to sneak ducks, no matter how hopeless the
situation might seem. Once I went on one hand and my knees through three
inches of water for three hundred yards, stalking a flock of sprig
loafing in an irrigation puddle. There was absolutely no cover; I was in
plain sight; from a serious hunting standpoint the affair was quixotic,
not to say imbecile. If I had been out with the Captain we should
probably not have looked twice at those sprig. Nevertheless, as the
general atmosphere of Uncle Jim's expeditions was always one of
adventure and forlorn hopes and try-it-anyway, I tried it on. Uncle Jim
sat in the cart and chuckled. Every moment I expected the flock to take
wing, but they lingered. Finally, when still sixty yards distant, the
leaders rose. I cut loose with both barrels for general results. To my
vast surprise three came down, one dead, the other two wing-tipped. The
two latter led me a merry chase, wherein I managed to splatter the rest
of myself. Then I returned in triumph to the cart. The forlorn hope had
planted its banner on the walls of achievement. Uncle Jim laughed at me
for my idiocy in crawling through water after such a fool chance. I
laughed at Uncle Jim because I had three ducks. We drove on, and the
warm sun dried me off.

In this manner