What Might Have Been Expected | Page 9

way by means of
his long line of shelled corn.
"You see I build my blind," said he to Harry, "and then I don't come
here till I've sprinkled my corn for about a week, and got the turkeys
used to comin' this way after it. Then I get back o' that thar at night and
wait till the airly mornin', when they're sartin to come gobblin' along,
till I can get a good crack at 'em." With this he sat down on a log,
which Harry could scarcely see, so dark was it in the woods by this
time.
"Are you tired?" said Harry.
"No," answered Tony; "I'm goin' to stop here. I want to be ready fur
'em before it begins to be light."
"But how am I to get home?" said Harry.
"Oh, jist keep straight on in that track. It'll take yer straight to the store,
ef ye don't turn out uv it."
"Can't you come along and show me?" said Harry. "I can't find the way
through these dark woods."
"It's easy enough," said Tony, striking a match to light his pipe. "I
could find my way with my eyes shut. And it would not do fur me to go.
I'll make too much noise comin' back. There's no knowin' how soon the
turkeys will begin to stir about."

"Then you oughtn't to have brought me here," said Harry, much
provoked.
"I wanted to show you a short way home," said Tony, puffing away at
his pipe.
Harry answered not a word, but set out along the path. In a minute or
two he ran against a tree; then he turned to the right and stumbled over
a root, dropping his bag and nearly losing his hold of his gun. He was
soon convinced that it was all nonsense to try to get home by that path,
and he slowly made his way back to Tony.
"I'll tell ye what it is," said the turkey-hunter, "ef you think you'd hurt
yerself findin' yer way home, and I thought you knew the woods better
than that, you might as well stay here with me. I'll take you home bright
an' airly. You needn't trouble yerself about yer sister. She's home long
ago. It must have been bright daylight when she wrote on that paper,
and she could keep the road easy enough."
Harry said nothing, but sat down on the other end of the log. Tony did
not seem to notice his vexation, but talked to him, explaining the
mysteries of turkey-hunting and the delight of spending a night in the
woods, where everything was so cool and dry and still. "There's no
nonsense here," said Tony. "Ef there's any place where a feller kin have
peace and comfert, it's in the woods, at night."
By degrees Harry became interested and forgot his annoyance. Kate
was certainly safe at home, and as it was impossible for him to find his
way out of the depths of the woods, he might as well be content. He
could not even hope to regain the road by the way they came.
When Tony had finished his pipe he took Harry behind his blind. "All
you have to do," said he, "is jist to peep over here and level your gun
along that path, keepin' yer eye fixed straight in front of you, and after
awhile you can begin to see things. Suppose that dark lump down
yander was a turkey. Just look at it long enough and you kin make it
out. You see what I mean, don't you?"

"Yes," said Harry, peeping over the blind; "I see it;" and then, with a
sudden jump, he whispered, "Tony! it's moving." Tony did not answer
for a moment, and then he hurriedly whispered back, "That's so! It is
moving."
CHAPTER VI.
TONY STRIKES OUT.
There was no doubt about it, something was moving. There was a rise
in the ground a short distance in front of the turkey-blind, and a little
patch of dark sky was visible between the trees. Across this bit of sky
something dark was slowly passing.
"Ye kin see 'most anything in the darkest night," whispered Tony, "ef
ye kin only git the sky behind it. But that's no turkey."
"What do you think it is?" said Harry, softly. "It's big enough for a
turkey."
"Too big," said Tony. "Let's git after it. You slip along the path, and I'll
go round ahead of it. Feel yer way, and don't make no noise if ye run
agin anything. And mind this"--and here Tony spoke in one of the most
impressive of whispers--"don't you fire till yer dead certain what it is."
With this Tony slipped away into the darkness, and Harry, grasping his
gun, set out to feel