THE WILD TURKEY. 53 



took aim when tlicy came within range, and killed the 

 leader in his tracks. This caused the others to head up 

 the hill; I followed in hot pursuit, and on reaching tho 

 crest of the mound-like ridge I got another shot, but it 

 proved to be a miss. Before I could get a second one, a 

 splendid stag Jumped out of covert and dashed away at 

 a bounding gait, but ere he could get out of sight I fired 

 at him, and brought him headlong to the ground. He 

 was up and off again in a moment, however, and the last 

 I saw of him was a switching white tail as he disappeared 

 in the undergrowth. I fancied at first that I had killed 

 him, but when I saw him move away at the pace he did, 

 I concluded I had only hurt his feelings. As soon as he 

 had vanished, I entered a coppice, and saw eight turkeys 

 advancing towards me in the most heedless manner. Dis- 

 mounting, I took aim over the horse's back, and fired 

 twice at them, but I only killed one. I scared them badly 

 though, for they retreated with the speed of greyhounds. 

 Picking up my trophy, I mounted my steed and ran 

 around the coj^pice to head them off, as I had seen them 

 fly in that direction. On reaching my position, I dis- 

 mounted, squatted on the ground behind a tree, and 

 waited patiently for their appearance. They did not 

 keep me long in suspense, for they came out of the bushes, 

 not thirty feet away, and the moment they appeared I 

 opened fire, and bagged two. 



The remainder darted back into the woods, and think- 

 ing they would head for the extreme crest of the hill, I 

 galloped in that direction and had scarcely reached the 

 shelter of a huge granite boulder before I heard the 

 anxious call of the leader of the flock. He was answered 

 in a short time, and in less than fifteen minutes more I 

 saw a nice drove of twenty or thirty emerging from the 

 shrubbery. When I got them in a bunch I flushed them, 

 fired, and bagged two, as they flew very slowly and 

 heavily. Having as many as I cared to carry, I started 



