COLD WORK. 139 



watching there a short time I might see them return to the 

 same or a neighbouring roost, knowing they often do so. 

 This, however, was very cold work, my clothes being in a 

 half-dried, half-frozen condition ; and I was just going to 

 give it up, when I heard the faint distant report of a rifle. 

 The sound redoubled my attention, since I supposed that 

 game was stirring. 



In a few minutes I heard the quick sharp alarm-call of 

 the turkey the unmistakable pit-pit and saw four of 

 them sail off from the edge of the cliff, at about sixty 

 yards' distance from me, into the top branches of the trees 

 forming one of the groups in the valley below. Drawing 

 gently back, and keeping as much as possible under cover, 

 I made my way down into the valley, and started in the 

 direction of the grove of trees in which the turkeys had 

 settled. It was getting dark, and I had gone but a short 

 way, when, at a distance of about two hundred yards in 

 front, a most extraordinary-looking object presented itself 

 to my view. It looked like a haycock on legs, with the 

 handle of a pitchfork sticking out of it, was steadily 

 advancing through the gloom to where I stood, and arrived 

 quite close to me before I could make out what it was. It 

 proved to be my companion, with two turkeys tied together 

 by the legs and slung over his shoulder across his rifle. 

 The wind coming up the valley and blowing their feathers 

 out in all directions, had given to the turkeys in the 

 gloaming the extraordinary appearance that had astonished 

 me so much. I gave a low whistle, and he joined me. 

 I pointed to the turkeys in the trees. He dropped 

 those he already had, hung them up out of wolf reach, 



