as they came in
sight he pointed them out to his father.

"Well, I see nothing," said the captain; "but wait a moment."

He took up his gun, opened the breech, and removed the cartridges, after
which he held the double-barrel up to his eyes as if it were a binocular
glass and looked long and attentively through it.

"Oh, yes, and I can make them out now," he said; "twenty or thirty of
them scratching in the sand not far from the trees."

Mark had a look through the barrels, and then, with rather a sneer on
his face, the first-mate had a look, but changed his expression as he
did so.

"Well, you can certainly see them better," he said rather grudgingly.

"Better! yes," said the captain; "it's a simple plan for anyone out
shooting, and worth knowing."

"But it can't magnify," said Mark.

"No," replied the captain; "but it shades the eyes and seems to increase
the length of their sight as they peer through these long tubes."

"You'll try for a few of the birds, I suppose?" said the mate.

"By all means. Half a dozen such fellows as those will make a capital
addition to our table--I mean sandy floor, Mark," he said, smiling.

The birds, as they neared them, seemed to take no heed till they
attempted to land, and Mark could not help noticing the annoyance
painted in the mate's face, as, eager to have a shot at the fine
fat-looking fellows, he saw them move off in a rapid run.

"Row a little farther," said the captain.

This was done, and the boat was pulled a hundred yards and the same
evolutions gone through on both sides.

"Why, I thought you said they were easy to shoot!" said the mate
impatiently.

"So they are," said Mark, smiling with the confidence of his hard-bought
experience, "if you know how."

"Show us then," said his father, handing him his gun. "We shall never
get any this way, and I suppose if we land and try and stalk them
they'll keep running out of shot."

"Yes," said Mark. "The major and I followed them for over a mile."

"Ah, well! let's see the wise man give us a lesson," said the mate
grimly.

Mark took the gun, and after they had been rowed another hundred yards
he bade the men pull in sharply right to the shore, taking his place
previously in the bows alongside of Bruff.

The boat touched the sands and Mark leaped out, followed by Bruff, who
charged the birds, barking furiously the while, with the same result as
before; the birds ceased running, turned to gaze at their enem