"Don't be later than four o'clock. Try and be back before, if possible."
"All serene, mother; we'll be back on time, luck or no luck."
"We'll fetch you some shags anyhow for fish soup," yelled back Joe as the lads walked briskly along.
Sandy took the oars at the start, Joe sitting in the stern with his muzzle-loader. Breech-loaders were at that time a rarity in Australia. There were handicaps in shooting in those days of the muzzle-loader, the powder-horn, and the shot belt, when compared with the modern choke-bore, smokeless powder, etc. But there were compensations. Men were far more careful of their ammunition. Loading itself was an art in which the expert took considerable pride. To every novice the formula was carefully given by the senior—
"Ram your powder well, but not your lead,
If you want to kill dead."
But, beyond all other considerations, there was more of the element of sport in it. There was a greater call for skill. The very limitations of gunnery in those days put the game on a nearer footing of equality with the hunter. There were greater chances for the quarry, and therefore greater merit in the kill. These are the days of machinery, and even in gunnery there is a disposition to do the work by turning a handle—"pumping the lead into 'em," as the moderns put it.
Sandy's father was the possessor of a renowned Joe Manton, and many were the tales told by the lad of his father's prowess and the wonderful distances at which this Joe Manton could kill.
The creek on both sides was lined for the most part with rushes, weeds, and water-reeds, which afforded fine cover and food for the wild-fowl. It was possible to pass within short distances of the ducks in the rushes without being aware of their presence.
"Keep your eyes skinned along here, Joe," remarked Sandy, after rowing some distance. "Might start a brace at any time."
The words were hardly out of the boy's mouth when a bird rose out of the reeds with a great flutter. Joe's gun was up in a trice, and before it had flown a dozen yards, it fell into the water with a splash.