A Day With the Squirrels. 



"Well, old fellow, I am going to take your word for that, 

 as I am sure you like hunting as well as I do, and I know you 

 are hunter enough to be aware of the fact that the early sun 

 gets the game, when after the little grays, so let us be off." 



A delightful half hour's row landed us at the old spring, 

 and pulling our boat up on the sandy point, we stowed' the 

 lunch and coats away under the seats, and were soon wend- 

 ing our way up the steep hill toward the heavy timber. Reach- 

 ing the top of the hill, we stopped, and turning around, looked 

 down on the little stream at our feet, and our eyes followed 

 its winding course until it disappeared among the brown hills 

 in the distance, a mere thread of silver. Oh, what a picture ! 

 To one who is not a lover and worshipper of nature it is useless 

 to attempt a description of such scenes, but to one who is a 

 lover of God's outdoors, every such experience draws him 

 nearer to the Creator. 



George awakened me from my day dream with "Come 

 on, Will; I love these panoramic studies of nature as much 

 as you do ; but we will have to move on if we get any game 

 today." We turned to the left down an old wood road toward 

 some walnut and hickory trees farther up the ridge. We had 

 gone but a few rods, when I espied a gray squirrel perched 

 on a limb near the top of a big hickory. I raised my gun 

 quickly and fired; just as he leaped to another tree, disap- 

 pearing in a hole, and I scored a clean miss. 



"Well, you are a dandy, Will ; I thought you could shoot," 

 exclaimed George. 



"Don't crow until you get out of the woods, George, for 

 you are liable to have a miss or two to your credit before 

 night," I replied. 



We then separated, agreeing to meet at the boat for lunch. 

 I struck off into the deep wood, visiting my favorite old squir- 

 rel trees, and though I found quite a number of the little reds, 

 I found nothing that wore a coat of fur the color I was look- 

 ing for. I had been tramping nearly an hour, and had heard 



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