Bob fastened his horse, rolled back his sleeves, and took hold with a will.

“Where’s your examining board, and your candidates?” he inquired.  “I thought I was going to see an examination.”

“Up the Meadow Trail,” panted the girl.  “Don’t stop to talk.  Hurry!”

They hurried, to such good purpose, that shortly they were clambering, rather breathless, up the steeps of the Meadow Trail.  This led to a flat, upper shelf or bench in which, as the name implied, was situated a small meadow.  At the upper end were grouped twenty-five men, closely gathered about some object.

Amy and Bob plunged into the dew-heavy grasses.  The men proved to be watching Thorne, who was engaged in tacking a small target on the stub of a dead sugar pine.  This accomplished, he led the way back some seventy-five or eighty paces.

“Three shots each,” said he, consulting his note-book.  “Off-hand.  Hicks!”

The man so named stepped forward to the designated mark, sighted his piece carefully, and fired.

“Do I get each shot called?” he inquired; but Thorne shook his head.

“You ought to know where your guns shoot,” said he.

After the third shot, the whole group went forward to examine the target.  Thorne marked the results in his note-book, and called upon the next contestant.

While the shooting went on, Bob had leisure to examine the men.  They numbered, as he had guessed, about twenty.  Three were plainly from the towns, for they wore thin shoes, white shirts, and clothes of a sort ill adapted to out-of-door work in the mountains.  Two others, while more appropriately dressed in khakis and high boots, were as evidently foreign to the hills.  Bob guessed them recent college graduates, perhaps even of some one of the forestry schools.  In this he was correct.  The rest were professional out-of-door men.  Bob recognized two of his own woods-crew—­good men they were, too.  He nodded to them.  A half-dozen lithe, slender youths, handsome and browned, drew apart by themselves.  He remembered having noticed one of them as a particularly daring rider after Pollock’s cattle the fall before; and guessed his companions to be of the same breed.  Among the remainder, two picturesque, lean, slow and quizzical prospectors attracted his particular attention.

Most of these men were well practised in the use of the rifle, but evidently not to exhibiting their skill in company.  What seemed to Bob a rather exaggerated earnestness oppressed them.  The shooting, with two exceptions, was not good.  Several, whom Bob strongly suspected had many a time brought down their deer on the run, even missed the target entirely!  It was to be remarked that each contestant, though he might turn red beneath his tan, took the announcement of the result in silence.