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only lead back to the swamp and they will disappear in the canoe
again.
 So our best bet is watching at night to see if we can catch sight
of a fire or lamplight. I asserted.
 I guess you are right, Freddie, so how do we go about this?
 Let s set up camp so we can watch this spot where we know
they have been before. We ll find the highest point and watch it
through the rifle telescope. If we spot them we follow them with the
telescope as far as we can and then move to the spot that we last saw
them and repeat the process. I m betting that Crawley will use his
rifle before I have to use the shotgun because I know how to trap
birds instead of shooting them.
 What if he has the same skill, Freddie?
 Crawley? He hasn t the patience and he likes shooting a gun.
Killing something is something he enjoys.
We setup camp on a knoll about three hundred yards from where
the canoe had entered the swamp water. It was more a swell in the
ground surface rather than a knoll but it did command a good view
of the sea of reeds which all lay at or beneath the lake level.
Before withdrawing into the hide that I constructed from reeds,
I set one or two traps at points where I had noticed the wild ducks
were wont to come up out of the water before waddling to their
nests. The island had the enormous advantage that there were no
mammalian predators on it, at least there weren t until we arrived.
My traps were quite simplistic: just a strand from the rope sling
to the shotgun, tied into a loop and pegged into the ground so
that when the bird exited the water and stepped into the loop, it
often tightened around the foot. The more the bird struggled the
tighter it became. I had learned to make these snares as a lonely
boy wandering around the woods and streams of my boyhood
hometown.
Jadi and I had settled into the hide alongside each other looking
outward to the spot in the swamp where the canoe had been dragged
from the lake.
We had been watching for an hour when Jadi nudged me and
pointed.
A yellow flame appeared in the swamp and moved slowly toward
the point we were watching. It was full dark by that time but I
could make out that a kerosene lamp was placed in the bow of the
canoe and the single occupant was paddling slowly to the spot we
were watching.
 Let s wait and see whether he had his rifle with him. I
whispered to Jadi.
She focused the telescopic lens and watching closely.
Crawley had almost reached his landing point when suddenly
there was an unholy row beneath us as a duck found its foot secured
in my trap and began squawking its alarm in its raucous voice.
Crawley did not hesitate. He turned the canoe with a practiced
sweep of his paddle, extinguished his lamp and slid away into the
darkness.
At least we had marked the spot where his lamp first became
apparent.
Chapter Fifteen
There was no chance that he would return that evening so I went
down and collected my snared bird. We returned to our camp of
the previous night and built a good fire where we toasted slices of
duck for a late supper.
Since we had no blankets left and the early mornings were still
cold, we slept in the egg-and-spoon position with my arm around
Jadi and somehow during the night I ended up cradling her breast.
When I awoke in the morning I realized what my hand was doing
and I tried to withdraw it but Jadi pulled my hand back and
cuddled it to her. We lay like that until the sun came up and then
Jadi toasted more duck while I hunted for fresh eggs.
I returned triumphant with eggs in the bottom of my tee-shirt to
find Jadi with toasted duck laid out on a mat she had woven from
reeds.
 That gives me an idea Jadi. I said after admiring her handiwork.
 I spotted a willow tree growing on one of the swamp islands. Let s
make a willow-frame and thatch the frame with reeds. It will serve
as a shelter against rain and wind. It will be easily portable so we
can take it with as we move.
She thought it a good plan so I ventured out with my shotgun
and pocket knife while she stayed  at home weaving a large reed
mat.
I found the willow island after a considerable amount of casting
about. All those channels and islands looked the same. Cutting
willow wands with a pocket knife is hard work and then I had to
collect strips willow bark for binding the planned frame.
I found a fresh nest on the island so I collected the eggs in my
shirt. I had to manage my shotgun, the willow wands and bark
strips all at once without breaking the eggs as I waded through the
swamp waters ankle-deep in mud under thigh-high water. It wasn t [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]