194 



RECREATION. 



was 2 er 3 o'clock, an purty soon I hearn 

 a shot way off ter the East. I grabbed my 

 gun an' answered, an' they shot again. I 

 loaded up, an' in a half hour I hearn 'em 

 again not more'n a mile off, an direckly 

 here they come with the oxen an' wagon. 

 It was Uncle Dick an' Mr. Sam. Pa stayed 

 iu camp ter cook supper, an git things ready 

 ter pull out nex' mornin'. 



They had 2 young bucks, Mr. Sam had 

 killed with 'is Winchester, an' 7 turkeys pa 

 had shot. Mr. Sam taken me down an' 

 wallered me, an' said he had a mind ter 

 beat the stuffin' outen me, fer killin the 

 biggest deer on the hunt. We drove on 

 ter camp, an' it was shore rough ridin' over 

 the palmetter roots. Goin' along the ham- 

 mock jest before we got ter camp about 

 sundown, Mr. Sam pointed inter the swamp, 

 an' there, settin' on some dead live oaks, 

 was a lot of turkeys gone ter roost. He told 

 Uncle Dick ter give 'im 'is gun, an' he'd 

 wait till dark, an' kill some more ter take 

 home, so we drove on an' left 'im. Jest 

 after we got ter camp we hearn 'im fire 

 both barls, one right after the other, an' 

 purty soon here he come, a totein' 3 big old 

 turkeys. We certny had a fine lot of game 

 hung up in camp that night, an' I woulden 

 fool yer. I was mighty proud of my buck, 

 an' so was pa, a heap prouder'n if he'd 

 killed it hisself. We finished up the little 

 buck fer supper, an' pa had saved all the 

 livers an' gizzards from 'is turkeys, an' they 

 was shore fine. 



We laid around the fire an' talked over 

 our hunt, an' made it up ter come again 

 an stay longer nex' winter, fer they all said 

 they never had a better time in their lives, 

 an' I know ding well I never,. 



It look like all the owls in the country 

 had a hootin' match that night, 'casion of 

 it's bein' our last night in camp, an' jest 

 as we turned in, a blamed old painter hol- 

 lered, off to'rds the big cypress. 



"By grannies," pa sez, "there's the mate 

 ter the one we killed yistidd'y, but we'll 

 have ter leave her till nex' year," an' I 

 went ter sleep an' dreamt I killed a painter 

 10 foot long with my new rifle. 



We broke camp soon the nex' morning, 

 an' I shore hated ter leave it. We went 

 back the same way we come, an' there didn't 

 nothin' happen ter tell erbout, 'ceptin' that 

 Mr, Sam killed a doe along the road, the 

 day before we got home, an' pa shot a gob- 

 bler with a beard mighty near a foot 

 long. 



Ma 'n sister was shore proud ter see us, 

 an' when I showed 'em my big buck, they 

 like ter a smothered me. Mr. Sam give 

 sister the wings of a pink curlew he'd killed, 

 an' took a heap of pains ter save, an' told 

 'er they was ter fix 'er hat with. Sister 

 turned mighty nigh as pink as the feathers, 

 an I seen pa wink at ma. 



We sent a mess of venison round to our 

 friends, an' that night they all came over, 

 an' set round the fire till late, an' we had 

 ter tell 'em all about it, an' it was most as 

 good bein' on the hunt. Uncle Dick told 

 me ter let me go along an' help him an' pa 'n 

 Mr. Sam drive his beef cattle ter town nex' 

 week, an' I cud pick out my rifle myself. 

 Pa nailed the old buck's horns over the fire 

 place, an when I git my rifle I'm agoin' ter 

 hang it on 'em. An that's all I kin recco- 

 member 'bout our camp hunt, but maybe if 

 we go again nex' year, I'll tell yer what 

 kind of a time I have with my new rifle. 





A ROYAL POINTER. 



About a year ago you published in Rec- 

 reation 2 photographs of King Cyro, then 

 a puppy. I send you another photograph 

 of the dog, taken in his prime. My physi- 

 cian says I can never go afield again. How- 

 ever, I have had about 48 years of sport, 

 and that ought to be enough to satisfy the 

 ordinary man. The dog is a whirlwind, 

 like his father, King Cyrano, and is for sale 

 at once on a positive guaranty. 



F. M. Gilbert, Evansville, Ind. 



I can't get along without Recreation. 

 Geo. L. Tate, Livingston, Mont. 



KING CYRO. 



