96 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



to bursting, till at length I was compelled to give up 

 the chase. On looking round to find out as nearly as 

 possible my situation, the better and more directly to 

 return to my horse, I espied a splendid wild turkey 

 busy feeding not over thirty yards off, and still un- 

 aware of my presence. Sheltering myself behind a 

 fallen log, I took sight along my barrel, determining 

 inwardly to have some reward for my labour; but, 

 although this time I worked the trigger correctly, 

 nothing but the explosion of the cap took place ; in 

 fact, the rifle had missed fire. The turkey, frightened 

 at the noise, lowered his head, ran about twenty yards, 

 then stopped, and looked around, still ignorant of the 

 cause of his alarm. Substituting a new cap and again 

 taking sight, was but the work of a few moments, but 

 still the gun refused to explode. I now sprung my 

 ramrod and placed on the nipple another cap, but the 

 result was as before, and the turkey having become 

 conscious that he was in a dangerous neighbourhood, 

 sought safety in flight. How often a day's shooting is 

 one tissue of blunders from morning till night ! and so 

 it was in this case. First, the game had passed too 

 far from my stand ; secondly, changing guns had 

 lost me the deer ; and thirdly, the carelessness of my 

 friend in not sheltering his gun from the damp was 

 the reason of my not having turkey for a future daj^'s 

 dinner. 



Tired, hungry, and bad tempered, I struck off direct 

 for my horse, expecting to have little more than a 

 mile to walk ; but with surprise, after having tra- 

 velled that distance, I found I was turned round and 

 lost. Already it was sunset, half an hour more would 

 make it dark, and the bottom land which I was now 



