THE WILD TURKEY. 44 
matter. The gobbler had been calling for some time 
without receiving a response, and this made him so 
angry that he advanced to a thicket, but, being too cau- 
tious to pass through it, he flanked it, and appeared on 
our left, twenty yards away, and commenced strutting 
in the most pompous manner. 
“Fire, Hank,” whispered my comrade. 
Hank raised his gun slowly to his face and pulled the 
trigger, but the only noise it made was a slight click, 
which caused the gobbler to look intently towards us, 
and stop his parading. Before the splendid creature 
could decide what to do—whether to stand or run—for 
he looked suspiciously at us, I gave him the contents 
of the right barrel, which was loaded with five drachms 
of powder and an ounce of BBB shot, and when the 
smoke cleared away I saw him struggling in the throes 
of dissolution. 
“That’s the enchanted gobbler, beyond doubt!” ex- 
claimed my friend, as he gazed into the face of the 
stupefied and disgusted Hank, who was eyeing him with 
@ mingled expression of blank stupidity and suspicion. 
After a long pause Greene recovered his tongue, and 
dolefully said: 
“If you hadn’t drawn my cartridges, I’d have jest 
blown that fellow to smithereens. It was one of the 
prettiest shots I ever saw. I wouldn’t have missed him 
for five dollars. I’m out of luck now for the day.” 
This pathetic expression only caused the other to 
laugh heartily, and when I left the blind to secure my 
trophy, he was indulging in a severe fit of coughing, 
owing to the intensity of his cachinnatory exercise. 
When I returned and showed Greene what a splendid 
bird he had lost, he looked more doleful than ever, and 
eyed it with such longing glances that I offered it to him, 
but he would not hear of such a thing, as he did not 
consider himself entitled to it. As the turkeys were ap- 
