Now, as you may imagine, to a man with no bullets at hand, the sight of sixty-eight fat canvas-backs is hardly encouraging, but I was resolved to have every one of those birds; the question was, how shall I do it?
I never can think on water, so I paddled quietly ashore and began to reflect.

As I lay there deep in thought, I saw lying upon the beach before me a superb oyster, and as reflection makes me hungry I seized upon the bivalve and swallowed him.
As he went down something stuck in my throat, and, extricating it, what should it prove to be but a pearl of surpassing beauty.

My first thought was to be content with my day's find.

A pearl worth thousands surely was enough to satisfy the most ardent lover of sport; but on looking up I saw those ducks still paddling contentedly about, and I could not bring myself to give them up.

Suddenly the idea came, the pearl is as large as a bullet, and fully as round.