A FLUTTER IN THE TREE TOPS. 203 



Wo had been instructed each to select our bird, and 

 fire at the word to be given by the guide. How loud 

 and sharp the clicking of the locks sounded, in the 

 stillness- of that jungle on the plains, as six barrels 

 pointed upward, but their aim made all unsteady by 

 the thumping of as many palpitating hearts. Then, 

 in a low tone, came the words — and they seemed 

 hoarsely loud in the painful silence around us — 

 " Ready ! Take careful aim ! " " Hold ! " cried the 

 Professor, in a sudden outburst of enthusiasm ; 

 "Gentlemen, you see above us thirty fine specimens of 

 that noblest of all American birds, the turkey. Wiselv 

 has it been said that, instead of the eagle, the turkey 

 should have been our iS'ational " — " Fire ! " cried the 

 guide, in an agony, as the Professor, having dropped 

 his gun, was rising to his feet, and the turkej^s, 

 alarmed by his eloquence, were preparing for flight. 



And fire we did. A half dozen tongues of flame 

 shot upward, and the roar of our unmasked battery 

 reverberated over the solitude. The rustling and 

 fluttering among the tree tops was terrific, and show- 

 ers of twigs and bark rained down upon us. Every 

 one of us knew that his shot had told, yet for some 

 reason, perhaps owing to the superior cunning of the 

 birds, none fell at our feet. Before regaining the 

 wagon, however, we found fluttering on our path a fine 

 fat one with a shattered second joint. It was claimed 

 by Sachem, on the ground that in his aiming he had 

 made legs a s^^eciality, not wishing to injure the 

 breasts. 



Later in the season, when the birds had become 



mucn Avilder, I often shot them, both running and 

 11 



