48 AMERICAK OAME BIED SHOOTIHGt, 



parently abundant, my friend commenced calling agaiii, 

 and in a short time we had the satisfaction of hearing 

 the faint, far-off notes of two or three young gobblers. 

 This caused Greene to jump to his feet, gun in hand; 

 but my friend advised him to keep quiet, and not to 

 shoot until the birds came in sight; so he sat down 

 again, with as rueful a countenance as if he were over- 

 powered with a load of sorrow. The lost turkey was 

 evidently preying on his mind and destroying his happi- 

 ness. 



After calling for half an hour, we saw two young gob- 

 blers advancing up an avenue of trees, but they moved 

 very slowly, peered about them constantly, as if they 

 feared that every bush contained a foe, and stopped fre- 

 quently, and for some time, in order to get the direction 

 of the call. They came within range at length, much to 

 our delight, and, Jumping on a log, seemed to look 

 into the muzzles of the guns which were pointed at 

 them. As I had killed my brace during the morning, I 

 decided to give the others a chance, so I watched the 

 actions of the feathered visitors, while my comjoanions were 

 preparing a reception for them. When they were ready, 

 Greene whispered "Fire!" and both pulled trigger to- 

 gether, but only one report was heard, and that was from 

 Greene's gun. The result was one dead bird, which had 

 been cleanly killed, but tlie second dashed away at race- 

 horse speed, and disappeared in the forest. When it had 

 vanished from sight my cicerone turned towards his 

 rival, looked ruefully into his face, bowed his head 

 sorrowfully, and, extending his digits, which the other 

 took, both shook hands slowly, solemnly, and in silence, 

 as if the occasion were too solemn for utterance. The 

 Chief of Yelpers having performed this ceremony, 

 opened wide his arms, and, in a highly-pitched, tragic 

 voice, invited his brother in misfortune to enter them. 

 The invitation being accepted, both embraced and pre- 



