So, reaching for their guns, they crawled carefully through the bushes, until they came within sight of the bay.

A brood of young ducks, under the direction of two old ones, were sporting about among the broad leaves of the water-lilies.

They had never seen any like them before; but Frank knew in a moment, from descriptions he had often read, that they were eider-ducks, and he determined, if possible, to capture some of the young ones, which, he noticed, were but half-fledged, and too small to fly.

But the question was how to proceed.

If the ducklings could not fly, they could swim like a streak; and he knew that, the moment they were alarmed, they would either make for the opposite side of the bay or for the lake, and, if they succeeded in reaching the open water, he might whistle for his ducks.
His only chance was to corner them in the bay; they would then be obliged to hide among the lilies, and perhaps they might succeed in capturing some of them.
Hurriedly whispering to his cousin, they crept back to the skiff, pulled around the point, and entered the bay.