Page 10 (1/1)

It had always been his custom, on his visits to Pine, to kill and pack fresh ive hih he was now, he did not intend to ot down into the pine belt, where the great, gnarled, yellow trees soared aloft, stately, and aloof froy mat of pine-needles, level as a floor Squirrels watched hi away at his near approach--tiny, brown, light-striped squirrels, and larger ones, russet-colored, and the splendid dark-grays with their white bushy tails and pluray, rolling, open land, al near and far, and the red-gold blaze of aspen thickets catching thesun Here Dale flushed a flock of wild turkeys, upward of forty in nuray flecked hite, and graceful, sleek build, showed thean to run pell-rass, until only their heads appeared bobbing along, and finally disappeared Dale caught a gli the turkeys, and as they saw him and darted into the timber he took a quick shot at the hindmost His bullet struck low, as he hadof earth and pine-needles thrown up into his face This frightened him so that he leaped aside blindly to butt into a tree, rolled over, gained his feet, and then the cover of the forest Dale was aainst all the predatory beasts of the forest, though he had learned that lion and bear and wolf and fox were all as necessary to the great scheentle, beautiful wild creatures upon which they preyed But some he loved better than others, and so he deplored the inexplicable cruelty

He crossed the wide, grassy plain and struck another gradual descent where aspens and pines crowded a shallow ravine and war brook Here he heard a turkey gobble, and that was a signal for hi, silent detour around a cluobblers stood, all suspiciously facing in his direction, heads erect, with that wild aspect peculiar to their species Old wild turkey gobblers were the aan to run like ostriches, thudding over the ground, spreading their wings, and with that running start launched their heavy bodies into whirring flight They fle, at about the height of a rass, and vanished in the woods