of the blind and
the eagle's feather in her hat moved.

With a sharp cry the duck swung out of range and was gone.

"Oh, Jim, I didn't do that. I declare I didn't move! He squawked just
for nothing and flew away."

"Yes, of course, he dreamed he saw an eagle after him. Ducks often go
to sleep flying and have nightmares."

"I won't do it again, please don't get cross now." She laid her hand on
his. He smiled and said nothing.

"You're not angry, Jim?" she asked, peeping around shyly. She was
sitting in the front of the boat with her back toward him.

"How could any man get angry at such a wonderful shot. You never
cripple them, they just drop at the crack of your gun. I think,
however, they die of fright. We will know to-night when we eat them for
dinner whether the shot killed them or you just scared them to death."

"Don't be nasty, Jim, I'll let you shoot the very next one. I won't
move."

She had scarcely spoken when Stuart seized her arm with a sudden fierce
grip.

"Sh--now, as still as death!" he whispered. "Don't you dare move or
speak or whisper, or breathe aloud."

"I won't!" Nan groaned, crouching low.

"He's circling the blind, but he's coming in sure," he whispered.

Just then the live decoy goose raised his head, saw his friend in the
air, and broke into a shrill cry that rang like a trumpet over the
smooth waters of the bay.

Nan sprang to her feet crying:

"It's a goose!"

"Yes, two of them; one right here in the blind!" Stuart laughed.

"No, no! There he goes, Jim! Look, isn't he a big one?"

"A very fine goose, but not nearly so plump and nice as the one we have
here."

Nan looked puzzled a moment, blushed and sat down.

"Jim, I think you're awfully mean. He was going the other way when I
saw him. I didn't scare him. You know I didn't."

"Certainly not!" was the scornful answer. "He just turned around and
went back to pick up a feather he dropped. He'll call again some day."

Nan peeped around to see if he were angry, deliberately rose, turned
and sat down on the bow of the boat facing Stuart, smiling at him,
mischievously.

"Let's not shoot to-day, Jim!" she pleaded.

"We won't," he answered, dryly.

"You know I think this blind is such a cute little house, with the blue
sky above and the still, beautiful waters stretching away into the
mists around us; isn't it?"

"Dangerously beautiful to mere mortals, I'm afraid, Nan!" he answered
soberly.

"Not if they are sensibl