But he had learned by these experiences . Oh , yes , Blacky had learned . For one thing , he had learned to know a gun when he saw it . For another thing , he had learned just how far away one of these dreadful guns could be and still hurt the one it was pointed at , and to always keep just a little farther away . Also he had learned that a man or boy without a terrible gun is quite harmless , and he had learned that hunters with terrible guns are tricky and sometimes hide from those they seek to kill , so that in the dreadful hunting season it is best to look sharply before approaching any place . On this afternoon , as he drew near the Big River , he saw a man who seemed to be very busy on the shore of the Big River , at a place where wild rice and rushes grew for some distance out in the water , for just there it was shallow far out from the shore . Blacky looked sharply for a terrible gun . But the man had none with him and therefore was not to be feared . Blacky boldly drew near until he was able to see what the man was doing . Then Blacky 's eyes stretched their widest and he almost cawed right out with surprise . The man was taking yellow corn from a bag , a handful at a time , and throwing it out in the water . Yes , Sir , that is what he was doing , scattering nice yellow corn among the rushes and wild rice in the water ! `` That 's a queer performance , '' muttered Blacky , as he watched . `` What is he throwing perfectly good corn out in the water for ? He is n't planting it , for this is n't the planting season . Besides , it would n't grow in the water , anyway . It is a shame to waste nice corn like that . What is he doing it for ? '' Blacky flew over to a tree some distance away and alighted in the top of it to watch the queer performance . You know Blacky has very keen eyes and he can see a long distance .
For a while the man continued to scatter corn and XXXXX continued to wonder what he was doing it for .
Blacky River Sir afternoon bag distance eyes right shame surprise