CHAPTER IV--THE SCHOOLBOY HUNTERS
"Dave, what did you shoot at?"
It was Phil who asked the question, for he had been the only one to seeDave raise his shotgun, take quick aim, and fire into the brushwoodlining the river at that point.
"I shot at a rabbit, and I think I hit him," was the reply. "I'll soonknow." And Dave skated toward the shore, less than twenty yards away. Hepoked into the bushes with the barrel of his gun and soon brought fortha fat, white rabbit which he held up with satisfaction.
"Hurrah!" cried the senator's son. "First prize goes to Dave! He's afine one, too," he added, as the students gathered around to inspect thegame.
"Thought you said you wouldn't shoot anything less than an elephant,"grunted Buster.
"The elephant will come later," answered Dave, with a smile.
"I'd like to get a couple like that," said Gus Plum, wistfully.
"Maybe that will be the total for the day," was Sam's comment. He hadgone wild-turkey shooting once and gotten a shot at the start and thennothing more, so he was inclined to be skeptical.
"Oh, we'll get more, if we are careful and keep our eyes open," declaredDave. "I saw the track of the rabbit in the snow yonder and that made melook for him."
Dave's success put all the students on the alert, and they spread out oneither side of the stream, eager to sight more game.
Less than two minutes later came the crack of Gus Plum's shotgun,followed almost immediately by a shot from Buster Beggs' pistol. Then agray rabbit went scampering across the river in front of the boys andseveral fired simultaneously.
"I got him! I got him!" shouted Gus, and ran to the shore, to bring outa medium-sized rabbit.
"And we've got another!" cried Sam. "But I don't know whether Shadow,Ben, or I killed him."
"I guess we all had a hand in it," said Ben. "We all fired at about thesame time."
"What did you get, Buster?" questioned Chip Macklin.
"I--I guess I didn't get anything," faltered the fat youth. "I thought Isaw a squirrel, but I see now that it is only a tree root sticking outof the snow."
"Great Scott, Buster! Don't shoot down the trees!" cried Phil, in mockdismay. "They might fall on us, you know!" And a laugh arose at thewould-be hunter's expense.
On the students skated, and before long reached a point where the riverwas parted by a long, narrow strip of land known as Squirrel Island,because squirrels were supposed to abound there.
As they reached the lower end of the island Dave held up his hand as awarning.
"I think I saw some partridges ahead," he said, in a low voice. "If theyare there we don't want to disturb them. Put down the hamper and takeoff your skates, and we'll try to bag them."
His chums were not slow in complying with his commands, and soon thecrowd was making its way toward the center of the island, where grew adense clump of cedars. They had to work their way through the brushwood.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Shadow, presently.
"What's the trouble?" whispered Roger.
"Scratched my hand on a bramble bush," was the reply. "But it isn'tmuch."
"Be careful of your guns," cautioned Dave. "Don't let a trigger getcaught in a bush or you may have an accident."
"There they are!" cried Ben, in a strained voice. "My, what a lot of'em!"
He pointed ahead, and to one side of the tall cedars they saw a covey ofpartridges, at least twenty in number, resting on the ground.
"All together!" said Dave, in a low, steady voice. "Fire as you stand,those on the right to the right, those on the left to the left, andthose in the center for the middle of the flock. I'll count. Ready? One,two, three!"
Crack! bang! crack! bang! went the shotguns and pistols. Then came arushing, rattling, roaring sound, and up into the air went what was leftof the covey, one partridge, being badly wounded, flying in a circle andthen directly for Roger's head. He struck it with his gun barrel andthen caught it in his hands, quickly putting it out of its misery. Theother boys continued to bang away, but soon the escaping game was beyondtheir reach.
"A pretty good haul!" cried Dave, as he and his chums moved forward."Three here and the one Roger has makes four. Boys, we won't go backempty-handed."
"Who hit and who missed?" questioned Sam.
"That would be a hard question to answer," returned Phil. "Better letthe credit go to the whole crowd," and so it was decided.
"Well, there isn't much use in looking for any more game around here,"said Dave. "Those volleys of shots will make them lay low for sometime."
"Let's go into camp and get lunch," suggested Buster. "I'm as hungry asa bear."
"Were you ever anything else?" questioned Ben, with a grin, for thestout youth's constant desire to eat was well known.
They tramped to the south shore of the island, and there, in a nook thatwas sheltered from the north wind, they went into temporary camp,cutting down some brushwood and heavier fuel and building a fire. Overthe flames they arranged a stick, from which they hung a kettle filledwith water obtained by chopping a hole through the ice of the river.
"Now, when the water boils, we can have some coffee," said Roger, whowas getting out the tin cups. "And we can roast those potatoes while thewater boils," he added.
"What about some rabbit pot-pie, or roast partridge?" asked Buster.
"Oh, let us take all the game back to the school!" exclaimed Ben. "Justto show the fellows what we got, you know."
"That's the talk!" cried Gus. "If we don't, maybe they won't believe wewere so lucky."
"Yes, let us take it all back," chimed in Chip Macklin.
All but Buster were willing to keep the game. He heaved a deep sigh.
"All right, if we must," he said mournfully. "But it makes my mouthwater, just the same!" And he eyed the plump rabbits and fat partridgeswistfully.
Inside of half an hour the lunch was under way. Around the roaringcampfire sat the students, some on convenient rocks and others on afallen tree that chanced to be handy. They had brought with them severalkinds of sandwiches, besides hard-boiled eggs, crackers, cheese, somecake, and the coffee, with a small bottle of cream and some sugar. Theyalso had some potatoes for roasting, and though these got partly burned,all declared them "fine" or "elegant,"--which shows what outdoor air willdo for one's appetite.
They took their time, and during the meal Shadow was allowed to tell asmany stories as he pleased, much to his satisfaction. It was Dave whowas the first to get up.
"Might as well be moving," he said, after consulting his watch. "We'llhave to start on the return inside of two hours, and that won't give usmuch time for hunting."
"Wait, I want just one more picture!" cried Sam, who had been busybefore with his camera. "Now all look as happy as if to-morrow wereChristmas!" And as the others grinned over the joke, click! went theshutter of the box, and the picture was snapped.
"Now, Sam, let me take you, with a gun in one hand and the partridges inthe other!" cried Dave. "If it turns out well, we can have it enlargedfor our dormitory." And a minute later another picture was added to theroll of films.
"Why not leave the things here and come back for them?" suggested Roger."No use in toting the hamper and game everywhere."
"We can hang the game in a tree," added Ben.
All agreed to this, and so the hamper and the game were hung up on thelimbs of a near-by walnut tree along with their skates and some otherthings. Then the fire was kicked out, so that it might not start aconflagration in the woods, and the students prepared to continue theirhunt.
"I guess we may as well tramp to the upper end of the island first,"said Dave, in answer to a question from his companions. "Then, if wehave time, we can beat up one shore and then the other. By that time itwill be getting dark and time to turn back to the Hall."
"Say, wait a minute!" cried Ben, suddenly.
"What's wrong, Ben?" asked several.
"Why, I--er--I thought I saw somebody over in the woods yonder, looking atus," and the Crumville lad
pointed to the trees in question. All gazedsteadily in the direction but saw nothing unusual.
"Maybe it was a rabbit, or a bear, or something like that," suggestedBuster. "If it's a bear we had better look out," he added, nervously.
"We'll soon find out," said Dave. "Come on," and he walked forwardtoward the woods. But he found nothing and soon rejoined his companions.
"I must have been mistaken," said Ben. "Come on, if we are to do anyhunting." And off he stalked, and one by one the others followed.
Evidently the shots at the partridges had scared much of the game away,for at the upper end of the island they started up nothing but twosquirrels and a few wild pigeons. Then they came down the north shoreand there bagged two rabbits. They also saw a wild turkey, but it gotaway before anybody could take aim at it.
"See, it has started to snow!" cried the senator's son, presently, andhe was right. At first the flakes were few, but inside of five minutesit was snowing steadily.
"We may as well start for the Hall," said Dave. "This storm looks as ifit might last for some time."
They left the shore and soon reached the edge of the island. By thistime the snowflakes were coming down so thickly that the boys could seebut little around them. The sky was now growing quite dark.
"I don't like this," was Phil's comment. "We'll have no fun of itgetting back to school, especially if the snow gets so deep that wecan't skate on the ice."
"Say, this puts me in mind of a story," commenced Shadow. "Once two boyswere caught in a storm and----"
"We haven't any time for yarns now, Shadow!" cried Dave. "It's back tothe camping place as fast as we can get there, and then off for school,unless we want to be snowed in along the route!"
All started across the island, which, at that point, was not overseventy-five yards wide. They came out at a spot just above where theyhad stopped for lunch. Soon all of them stood close to where lay theremains of the campfire, now covered with the fast-falling snow.
"Hello! What does this mean?"
"Where is the hamper?"
"Where is the game?"
"What has become of the skates?"
"Where is that overcoat I left on the tree?"
These and several other questions were asked in rapid succession. Thenthe Oak Hall students looked at each other in blank dismay.
And not without good reason. For everything left at the camping spotwhen they had continued the hunt--game, hamper, skates, an overcoat, asweater, and some other things of lesser importance--all had disappeared!