i88 



RECREATION, 



awake. All else, save for the whining of 

 the dog, was still. Presently the expected 

 happened in the form of a shrill whistle, 

 in response to which the dog made a sud- 

 den start and broke away, leaving me to 

 follow him as best I could. It was rough 

 work to keep him in sight, but I did it, 

 and after a quarter of a mile of hurrying 

 he brought me up with his fellow hunters. 

 These were a white man and a negro; 

 the former a strapping, ruddy wight, with 

 good nature written in every line of his 

 Scottish face. As for the latter, all coons 

 look alike to me. 



"Well, suh, you mus' be lost?" inquired 

 the white man, standing the butt of his 

 muzzle loader on the ground and surveying 

 me in frank astonishment. 



When I had explained my situation, he 

 expressed his sympathy by vigorous abuse 

 of Major Tillman. 



"He otter be ashamed u' hisse'f!" he 

 cried, "a leavin' you to bruise about in 

 thisher wilduhness all night." 



I suggested that Uncle Sam was more 

 likely the one at fault, and changed the 

 subject by asking the nature of their 

 sport. 

 "Tuckeys," was the reply. 

 "But it isn't turkey season," I ventured. 

 "Aren't you afraid of the law?" 



"I reckon this mus' be your fust trip," 

 he surmised, "else you'd know that the 

 law don't use in these pairts. Who> knows 

 when I kill a tuckey? Er who'd tell, 

 s'posin' he did know? We all don't no- 

 tice the seasons ner the law when we all 

 goes a huntin'. Lemme tell you sump'n'," 

 he continued, after another close scrutiny 

 of my face, "if you know how to keep 

 quiet, we all '11 gin you a little fun to-day." 

 "I should be delighted," I answered, 

 "but I'm so weak from hunger and fatigue 

 that I'm afraid I can't keep up." 



"Fer the bein' hungry, we've got sump'n 

 't eat; an' fer the bein' tired, you won't 

 hev to do much walkin', fer I know whah 

 the tuckeys stays." 



I do not wish to corrupt youth by ap- 

 pearing to countenance the violation of 

 game laws ; but put this case to yourself. 

 There was hardly an alternative, so they 

 robbed their pockets of perhaps more 

 than I could eat, and while I attacked 

 them voraciously, we set forward, the mas- 

 ter of ceremonies, whose name I found to 

 be Scot Gillis, talking constantly. He told 

 me of the wonders he saw when he went 

 to Fayetteville ; of the peculiarities of his 

 nearest neighbors, and how each of them 

 or his ancestors happened to settle in those 

 parts; and, in a spirit inclined toward 

 boasting, of the number and quality of 

 his own cows, hogs, and goats. 

 "But we-all been kinder onfortunate 



this yeah," he confessed. "More so 'n 

 usual. Ev'ry yeah the 'coons an' squir'ls 

 eats our co'n, the foxes an' minks an' 

 'possums eats our chickens an' pigs, to say 

 nothin' u' the hawks, the nigguhs, an' 

 the cholery. But this yeah we all been 

 pairt u' the time burnt up in drouths an' 

 the rest u' the time a mirin' in mud; a 

 mad dog ran among 17 uf our cows an' 

 bit 'em an' they went mad an' raised the 

 foul fien's; one day out 26 hawgs was a 

 layin' in the's bed atween 2 pines, when 

 all at onced the lightnin' struck 'em like a 

 aH at onced the lightnin' struck 'em." 



There is no imagining when he would 

 have made an end, had not the dog sprung 

 a drove of turkeys and cut short his narra- 

 tive. Up they flew, some 300 yards before 

 us, with a great roaring of wings and the 

 frightened "tuck, tuck!" which, as Scot 

 later informed me, "made them be called 

 tuckeys." Scot would have made a great 

 etymologist. 



The place was covered with a thick 

 growth, consisting partly of oak, and even 

 of some dogwood. How shadowy and 

 cool it was ! I did not like to leave that 

 little valley in a senseless tramp after the 

 wildest of wild game. 



"Why, Scot," I complained, "they got 

 away without a single shot." 



He vouchsafed no reply until we came 

 to the spot whence the fowls had been 

 flushed. He then gave the negro's gun to 

 me, and, calling in the dog, put him in 

 charge of the negro. 



"Take 'im way off, Babe," he directed, 

 "an' set a straddle uf 'im. Don't let 'im 

 git away by no means, an' if 'e tries to 

 holler, choke 'im. 



"Kin you shoot?" he asked, turning to 

 me. 



"I have never tried turkeys," I respond- 

 ed, "but I can tap 8 birds out of 10." 



"That'll do. You set right heah, side u' 

 this lawg. Notice that you ar' on the side 

 tordze the turkeys. When I go to yelpin' 

 'em, if you see 'em comin' in front u' you, 

 don't try to git behin' the lawg. A tuckey 

 kin see the tip eend u' your nose around 

 a tree er over a lawg, but he ain't a lookin' 

 fer you in plain sight on his side u' the 

 blind. An' if you git a shot, don't move 

 till I say so. A tuckey don't min' the 

 smell er soun' u' powder like the sight uf 

 a man." 



With these instructions he left me. I 

 sat down in the shade of the log, with a 

 long breath of relaxation, and then every- 

 thing fell silent. I seemed to be encamped 

 on the turkey playground. Their wallows 

 were all about me, particularly in the soft 

 bed of decayed wood near the log. 



At first my surroundings appeared to be 

 entirely lifeless, nothing astir; but before 



