CHAPTER XXX
A SURPRISE—GOOD-BYE
After that two days went by without anything unusual happening. The boys enjoyed every minute of the time, and with the bear scare at an end, they went hunting and fishing to their hearts' content. Giant and Whopper caught a mess of sixteen fish, large and small, and Shep and Snap laid low half a dozen rabbits, some squirrels, and also a beautiful brook mink of which they were very proud.
"It is too bad that our outing must soon come to an end," said the leader of the Gun Club. "But as we have had a glorious time I suppose we ought not to complain."
"I saw some silver tail foxes at the ridge to-day," said Shep. "I think we ought to go after them."
"And after that bear," put in Whopper. "We don't want to go home until we lay low his bearship."
"Maybe his bearship will lay us low," put in Giant. "That wouldn't be so nice."
During their spare time the boys had set several traps, and in these they caught some animals of more or less importance. They also brought down two wild turkeys, and resolved to eat one for their New Year's dinner and take the other home.
"Happy New Year!" was the cry, on a beautiful morning, and the young hunters got up to put in a "full day," as Snap expressed it. Right after breakfast they set the turkey to roasting, and made a pie and some other good things. They had a bountiful dinner early and by one o'clock started out for their last hunt.
They had already resolved to cross the lake in the direction Shep had seen the silver-tailed foxes. They went over on their skates, and then donned their snowshoes and were soon deep in the forest. Here they soon struck the trail of the foxes and discovered them in an angle, between a cliff and a series of sharp rocks.