“Fire as soon as ye get a good chance, but not afore,” said he.

As they crawled closer they saw the wild turkeys quite plainly.  There was a gobbler and six or seven hens, and they were roosting on several limbs close to the ground.

“Must be gittin’ lazy, to be on their perches so late in the morning,” observed Jed.  “Ought to have been scratchin’ fer a livin’ hours ago.”

“Well, this suits us,” answered Whopper.  “I’m going to try for the gobbler.”

“I’ll take the one below him,” said Snap.

“I’ll take the hen on the left,” came from Giant.

“And I’ll try for the one on the right,” put in Shep.  “What will you shoot at, Jed?”

Before the old hunter could answer there was a stir on the tree.  The gobbler had heard them and he gave the alarm.  Up and out went the turkeys as fast as they could fly.  Bang! bang! went the shotguns, and several more shots followed.  Jed Sanborn had also taken aim.  There was a great fluttering, and down dropped two turkeys like lead.  Two hens fluttered around, and the gobbler remained in the tree, caught between two branches and breathing his last.

“Hurrah! let us finish them!” cried Snap, and ran forward.  The next instant he felt one of the wounded turkeys strike his face.  He caught the game by the legs and then received a peck in the hand that drew blood.  Before the turkey could do any more harm the young hunter stunned it by a blow against the tree and then finished it.  In the meantime the other hen was killed by Whopper, while Jed Sanborn took his gun and poked the gobbler out of the tree crotch and despatched him.

“Certainly a good haul, boys,” said the old hunter, when the temporary excitement was over.  “You’ll have turkey meat enough to last some time.”

“I know what I am going to do with the gobbler, if you’ll let me,” said Whopper.  “I am going to send him home to my folks, if Jed will carry him.”

“Sure I will, my lad, and I’ll carry some more if you wish,” Jed continued, looking at the other young hunters.

“Let each of us send a turkey home,” suggested Snap.  “That will show the folks that we are not starving.”  And so it was agreed.

Tying the turkeys in a bunch, they put them in a safe place on a tree and then continued up the mountainside.  The recent rains had cleared the sky and washed the bushes and grass, and the view was a most charming one.  Soon they came to a small clearing and from this could see over a large portion of the lake’s surface.

“It certainly is a wild place,” was Snap’s comment.  “But some day the lumbermen will get in here, and then you’ll see this forest melt like magic.”

“Yes, and half the charm will be gone,” added Jed Sanborn.  “Not much left after a saw mill gets started in a place like this.”

Noon came and found them well up on the mountain.  So far they had seen no game but the turkeys, nor had they seen a further trace of the wildcats.  They sat down in an open spot for lunch, and rested for half an hour afterward.