The party hurried along merrily, little thinking that their journey home would be one of sadness; and soon they were in the midst of the blackberries, picking as rapidly as possible, and filling their gourds with the delicious fruit.
They worked hard all the morning, and the deerskin sacks which they had brought with them were nearly full.
Toward noon the children became hungry, and without a dissenting voice agreed to eat dinner.
They had taken with them for lunch a loaf of bread and a piece of cold venison, but Balser suggested that he should go into the woods and find a squirrel or two to help out their meal. In the meantime Tom Fox had started out upon a voyage of discovery, hoping that he, too, might contribute to the larder.
In a few minutes Balser’s gun was heard at a distance, and then again and again, and soon he was back in camp with three fat squirrels.
Almost immediately after him came Tom Fox carrying something in his coonskin cap.
“What have you there, Limpy?” cried Liney.
The children called Tom “Limpy” because he always had a sore toe or a stone bruise on his heel.
“You’ll never guess,” answered Tom. All the children took a turn at guessing, and then gave it up.
“Turkey eggs,” said Tom. “We’ll have eggs as well as squirrel for dinner to-day.”