INTO A HOLE AND OUT
Inside of an hour the young hunters had passed to the extreme end of
the lake and were coning down on the other side.
"Here is where the Ham Spink crowd stole our boat," said Snap,
indicating the spot.
"Phew! and what a time we did have on the lake afterwards," was
Whopper's comment. "Say, I can't understand yet why some of us weren't
drowned."
"Don't make so much noise," said Shep. "We'll never get any game if
you keep on talking."
After that they went on a distance of a hundred yards in perfect
silence. Then Giant came to a halt, and pointed up two trees in front
of him. On the branches were half a dozen fat, gray squirrels.
Again those carrying shotguns discharged their fowling pieces, and
down came three of the largest of the squirrels. Then Snap let Whopper
have his gun and down came another squirrel just as he was about to
enter his hole.
"Squirrels and more!" shouted Giant, rushing forward.
"More?" queried Shep. "We shot only the squirrels."
"True, but you've forgotten what the squirrels hide away."
"Nuts!" exclaimed Whopper. "Just what we want, to eat in front of the
camp-fire at night."
It was an easy matter to locate the storehouses of the squirrels, and
from each they took a quantity of nuts. They did not take all, for
they did not wish the squirrels that were still alive to starve.
"I guess we have got all the game we'll find around here," observed
Shep, as they went on once more. "The banging away will make the rest
of the game keep under cover."
"Well, let us go around the lake anyway," answered Snap. "There is no
fun in crossing over on the ice without skates."
Down at the lower end the lake made several turns, winding in and out
among the rocks, and here the boys left the ice and walked under the
trees and between the bushes.
"This isn't so pleasant," said Whopper, as he stumbled on a rock and
rolled over on his side.
"Look out, that your gun doesn't go off!" cried Snap, warningly. "Keep
the muzzle pointed at the ground.'
"That's what I always do," answered Whopper.
They had almost reached the end of the lake, at the point where it
emptied through the rocky gorge into Lake Cameron, when Giant came to
a sudden halt and uttered a low whistle.
"What is it?" questioned Snap and Whopper in a breath.
"Saw something through yonder trees--something big," was the answer of
the small member of the Gun Club.
"You did?" said Snap. "What did it look like?"
"Looked like a cow--but of course it couldn't be that.'
"Maybe it's was a moose!" cried Shep. "Let's go after him."
The thought that a moose might be so close at hand thrilled all the
boys, and without a moment's hesitation they started off in the
direction in which the strange animal had been seen.
"If it is a moose let me take a rifle shot at him," whispered Whopper.
"A bullet is what he'll want to lay him low."
"I'm willing you should have the first shot," said Snap.
The others also agreed that Whopper should be the first to fire--if
the game was really as large as expected--and the boy who loved to
exaggerate went to the front.
They had to climb a small hill, which came to an abrupt end beside
another gully. Here the bushes had been bent low by the wind and were
covered with drifted snow.
"Be careful--walking isn't very good here," cautioned Whopper. "The
ground seems to be spongy."
All ranged up to the edge of the gully and prepared to leap across. As
they did this, some of the bushes and the snow gave way, and down they
went in a heap, a distance of ten or a dozen feet. As they fell
Giant's shotgun went off with a bang that scared them greatly.
"Oh, dear!" gasped Snap, when he could free himself from the snow.
"What a tumble? Is anybody hurt?"
He gazed around, to find Whopper head first in a snow drift. He pulled
his chum out, and in the meantime Shep and Giant scrambled up.
"Did--did my shot hit anybody?" questioned the smaller member of the
club, anxiously.
"I'm safe," announced Snap.
"So am I," came from Whopper. "But say, I thought I was going to plow
through the snow clear to China!"
"The discharge went pretty close to my ear," announced Shep. And then,
as he began to realize the escape he had had, he grew slightly pale.
"I tried to keep the gun barrel pointed to a safe place," said Giant.
"But the fall came so quickly I had hardly time to think. I am
thankful nobody was struck. Had I hit anybody I should never have
forgiven myself!" And he shuddered.
"Be careful of the rest of the guns," said Whopper. "We don't want to
be blown out of this hole--we prefer to climb out--at least I do."
They looked to their firearms, and then gazed around the locality in
perplexity. The gully was long and narrow and both sides were covered
with ice and snow. The ground above, also covered with ice and snow,
was well out of their reach.
"Getting out is going to be no easy task," announced Snap. "Maybe
we'll have to, walk to the end of the gulch."
"Wait, perhaps I can climb out--if one of you will give me a boost,"
said the doctor's son.
The others were willing to have Shep make the trial, and Snap and
Whopper put down their guns and aided him by putting his feet in their
hands. Shep caught hold of some bushes and began to haul himself up
with all his strength.
"Hurrah! he is going to make it!" cried Giant, when snap! went the
bushes, and down rolled the doctor's son and plunged once more into
the snow.
"Whow!" he spluttered, as he arose and worked the snow from his collar
and his coat sleeves. "No more of that for me! Snap, don't you want to
try it?"
"No, I prefer to walk to where the gully is not so deep."
They struck out, to find the bottom of the gulch filled with bowlders,
bushes and snow. More than once one or another went down into a hollow
and had to be hauled out.
"Phew! but it's cold down here!" murmured Whopper. "My feet feel like
two cakes of ice."
"One of the delights of hunting in the winter time," observed Snap.
"Want to go home, Whopper?"
"Not for a million dollars and a mince pie thrown in," was the prompt
answer.
"Say, a piece of mince pie wouldn't go bad just now." said Shep,
smacking his lips.
"Don't mention it, please."
It took a quarter of an hour's hard journeying to reach a point where
the gully was only four or five feet deep, and here they left the
hollow with ease. They were now further away from the lake than ever
and in a locality that looked new to them.
"I don't remember this spot, although I thought we were all over this
ground last summer," observed Snap.
"A place looks different in winter from what it does in summer," said
Shep.
"Then that must be it."
"I reckon that moose must be 'steen miles from here by this time,"
said Whopper. "He must have heard Giant's gun go off."
As they could see nothing of the strange game, they agreed that
Whopper must be right in his surmise and so determined to look around
for other game. They circled the end of Firefly Lake, and then walked
a short distance in the direction of Lake Cameron.
"Wait!" called out Whopper, presently, "Snap, let me have your
shotgun." And he reached for the weapon.
"What do you see?"
"A wild turkey, and a big one, too."
Snap was willing that Whopper should have a try at the turkey, since
he seemed so disappointed at losing track of the big game, and so
passed over his shotgun. The wild turkey was roosting near the top of
a silver maple tree. Taking careful aim, Whopper blazed away.
To the astonishment of all, the wild turkey gave a flutter, sank back
on the tree limb and then became quiet.
"What in the world does that mean?" gasped Whopper, hardly believing
that he saw aright.
"Maybe you didn't hit him," suggested Giant.
"Didn't hit him--at such a short distance?" said Whopper, in disgust.
"Of course I hit him."
"Then why didn't he tumble down or fly away?" came from Shep.
"He'd fly quick enough--if he could," said Snap. "There is something
wrong with him. Maybe he is caught fast in the crotch of the limb."
Guns in hand the four boy hunters ran forward until they stood
directly under the silver maple. Here they could see the head and the
tail of the wild turkey, but that was all. The game did not offer to
move, even when Whopper set up a shout.
"He's dead and caught fast, I am sure of it," said Whopper. "If it
were otherwise he would surely flutter down or fly away."
"You'll have to do some climbing to get your game," said the doctor's
son.
"Well, I can do that, too--if you'll give me a boost," answered
Whopper, passing over the shotgun and laying aside his rifle.
The others assisted him to reach the lower limbs of the silver maple,
and up he went from one branch to another until he stood directly
beneath the wild turkey. He put forth his hand with caution.
"Be careful," cried Shep. "If the turkey is still alive he may show
fight and try to peck out your eyes."
Shielding himself as best he could, Whopper presently caught the
turkey by one foot. He pulled gently at first and then gave a strong
yank. Down came the game from the crotch of the tree, and Whopper
almost lost his balance. To save himself he let the game drop to the
ground and clutched at the tree branches nearest to him.
"Dead as a door nail!" he announced, as soon as he felt safe. "And I
knew it from the start. He didn't fall because he got caught, that's
all."
"Now you are up in the tree you had better take a look around and see
if any more game is it sight," called up Snap.
"I will."
While the others stamped around to keep warm, Whopper mounted to the
topmost branches of the silver maple. From this position he could
overlook a wide expanse of country. He gazed first to, the northward
and then over to the west.
"Hullo!" he yelled suddenly. "I see something worth going after."
"What?" questioned the others in concert.
"Two deer."