THE WILD TURKEY. 47 



matter. The gobbler had been calling for some time 

 without receiving a response, and this made him so 

 angry that he advanced to a thicket, but, being too cau- 

 tious to pass through it, he flanked it, and aj^peared on 

 our left, twenty yards away, and commenced strutting 

 in the most pompous manner. 



" Fire, Hank," whispered my comrade. 



Hank raised his gun slowly to his face and pulled the 

 trigger, but the only noise it made was a slight click, 

 which caused the gobbler to look intently towards us, 

 and stop his parading. Before the splendid creature 

 could decide what to do — whether to stand or run — for 

 he looked suspiciously at us, I gave him the contents 

 of the right barrel, which was loaded with five draclims 

 of powder and an ounce of BBB shot, and when the 

 smoke cleared away I saw him struggling in the throes 

 of dissolution. 



*' That's the enchanted gobbler, beyond doubt! "ex- 

 claimed my friend, as he gazed into the face of the 

 stupefied and disgusted Hank, who was eyeing him with 

 a mingled expression of blank stupidity and susjiicion. 



After a long pause Greene recovered his tongue, and 

 dolefully said: 



"If you hadn't drawn my cartridges, I'd have jest 

 blown that fellow to smithereens. It was one of the 

 prettiest shots I ever saw. I wouldn't have missed him 

 for five dollars. I'm out of luck now for the day." 



This pathetic expression only caused the other to 

 laugh heartily, and when I left the blind to secure my 

 trophy, he was indulging in a severe fit of coughing, 

 owing to the intensity of his cachinnatory exercise. 

 When I returned and showed Greene what a splendid 

 bird he had lost, he looked more doleful than ever, and 

 eyed it with such longing glances that I offered it to him, 

 but he would not hear of such a thing, as he did not 

 consider himself entitled to it. As the turkeys were ap- 



