Turkey with Thanksgiving 335 



rule, east and west, stretched the narrow road-bed, 

 with its two shining rails ; on either side were broad 

 ditches containing water perhaps five feet deep, 

 coated with treacherous ice, and I thus had a 

 promenade over one hundred miles long, but only 

 about fifteen feet wide. A tempting shooting 

 ground, truly ! A fellow might get rail-birds on it 

 or shoot off a few ties to fill in time, but it was not 

 very exhilarating. There was nothing to do until 

 the evening train came along to take me home 

 again. Nothing but a heavy frost, followed by 

 snow, would make still-hunting possible, and there 

 were no indications of snow. 



For want of something better to do I strolled a 

 couple of miles along the track, and by so doing 

 made a discovery which changed the aspect of 

 affairs. A car laden with shelled corn must have 

 passed some days before and had a hole in it, for a 

 streak of yellow grain extended for some three 

 hundred yards beside the rails. Near my end of the 

 corn was a culvert through which, under ordinary 

 conditions, cattle could pass. But it was now filled 

 to within a couple of feet of the top with water, like 

 the ditches coated with ice. 



Everywhere within a short distance of this culvert 

 were traces of wild turkeys, and it was an easy task 

 to read the possibilities. The birds had discovered 

 the trail of grain and had been feeding on it for two 

 or three days. The rains had drowned out their 

 feeding grounds in the woods, and they would be 

 sure to return to the corn day after day until the 

 last grain was eaten. It was simply a question of 

 close hiding, more or less of the long agony of hope 



