“You must have cat’s eyes,” said Archie, trying to peer through the darkness.  “I knew there was a creek here somewhere, but I didn’t suppose we had reached it yet.”

“Well, we have; and, unless I am very much mistaken, you will find the bridge right before you.  Shall we try to cross it now?  It will be a slippery job.”

The “bridge” that Frank referred to was simply a large tree that the boys had felled across the creek, and stripped of its branches.  It could easily be crossed in the day-time, but in a dark, stormy night it was a difficult task to undertake.  The boys could scarcely see their hands before them; and Frank had accomplished something worth boasting of in being able to conduct his cousin directly to the bridge.

“It will require the skill of a rope-dancer to cross that bridge now,” said Archie; “and, if we should happen to slip off into the water, we would be in a nice fix.”

“Besides,” said Frank, “if we did succeed in crossing, we could not go far in the dark, on account of the swamp; so, I think, we had better wait.”

The boys stood under the tree, talking in low tones, when Frank suddenly exclaimed,

“We’re all right.  The geese are in the lake.  Do you hear that?”

Archie listened, and heard a splashing in the water, mingled with the hoarse notes of the gander.

“I wish it was daylight,” said he, impatiently.

“Don’t be in a hurry,” said Frank; “there’s time enough.”

“I’m afraid they will start off as soon as it gets light.”

“Oh, no; the lake is a good feeding-ground, and they would stay, perhaps, all day, if they were not disturbed.”

In about an hour the day began to dawn; and, as soon as objects on the opposite side of the creek could be discerned, Frank led the way across the bridge.  A short run through the woods brought them to the swamp.

Now the hunt began in earnest.  The swamp was covered with water, which, in some places, was two feet deep; and the trees and bushes grew so thick, that it was with difficulty that they could work their way through them.  Besides, they were obliged to proceed very carefully, for every step brought them nearer the game; and the slightest splashing in the water, or even the snapping of a twig, might alarm them.

At length they found themselves on the shore of the lake; and, peering out from behind a thicket, where they had crept for concealment, they discovered, about half-way to the opposite shore, as fine a flock of geese as one would wish to see—­fifteen of them in all.  They were swimming around, turning their heads first one way and then the other, as if they had been alarmed.

“It’s a long shot, isn’t it?” said Archie, measuring the distance with his eye.

“Yes,” answered his cousin; “but that is not the worst of it; they are getting further away from us every moment.”

“Well,” said Archie, cocking his gun, and pushing it carefully through the bushes, “you be ready to take them as they rise.”