John and Charles went to the store, and sold the fish and other things; then John showed Charles his gun, and yoke of steers he was raising; then they yoked them up, and put them on to a light sled, that they could haul on the bare ground, and gave Charles a ride. He also showed him his powder-horn, and all his playthings, and a tame gray squirrel, and hens. Then they went to the shore and saw John’s gunning float; and John made Charles lie down in the bottom of her, and showed him how to scull. Putting the sail up, they sailed round the bay; and going round a little point, they saw some birds; they then lay down in the float, and John sculled up to them, and shot two. This excited Charlie very much. As he took the dead birds in his fingers, the passion for shooting, for which he had never felt the least inclination, seemed to be inspired by the very contact.
“We will have them for dinner,” said John; “let us go home, so that mother will have time to cook them.”
This was all new to Charlie, for Ben had been too busy to gun since he came.
“Are they good to eat?” asked Charlie.
“First rate; and you can sell them at the store. The feathers fetch a first-rate price at the westward, and you can sell them at Witchcassett (Wiscasset) to the English vessels.”
“I never knew that before. If I could shoot, I might kill some on the island.”
“I guess you could; there ain’t such a place for gunning along shore.”
“I might earn something to help along.”
“Yes, indeed! Come, let us hurry home; I’ll show you how to load and fire; and there are guns enough on the island; you can practise there; Ben will show you.”
When they got home, Charlie fired John’s gun five or six times, and learned to load it. “John,” said his father at the dinner-table, “where is that little gun of yours?”