Here Davy Jones presently joined him, saying that Bumpus had urged him to add a second rod and line to that Smithy already had out.
“Couldn’t get him to try it, though,” said Davy. “Told me he was no fisherman, and nearly always fell in, he was that clumsy. And between us, Smithy, that’s pretty near the truth.”
“Well, I can remember several occasions when Bumpus made a splash that he didn’t calculate on,” remarked Smithy, who was usually just as careful of his language as he was of his clothes, and no one could ever remember ever hearing him utter any slang phrase.
Meanwhile the five hunters had gone off in high spirits. The day was glorious, and a whole month of this sort of thing stared them in the face. That was enough to make any bunch of boys happy, especially when they cared as much for the Great Outdoors as Thad and his chums did.
Allan was a born hunter. What he did not know about stalking game and all such things that a successful hunter must be up in, the boys had not as yet learned.
He had noted the passing clouds, and observed the direction in which the prevailing wind blew. It was of considerable moment for the success of their fresh meat hunt, that they go up the breeze. In this way they would avoid having their presence in the timber made known in advance to the wary game, through the medium of the wonderful sense of smell which most animals possess.
The five scouts spread out at times in the shape of a fan, so as to cover as much ground as possible.
Again they would come together for a little consultation, when they could compare notes; and those who were not very much experienced in still hunting, pick up more or less valuable pointers.
Noon came, but as yet they had not met with any success. Around them the tall trees grew thickly, and some of them had trunks of such girth that the scouts easily understood why this region was always referred to as the “big timber.”
As they ascended higher up the slopes of the foothills that bordered the Rockies, they would find the trees growing smaller all the while, until far up the heights the stunted mesquite or the dwarfed cedar alone remained.