On and on went the two boys, and presently were rewarded by the sight of several small woodcock. Both fired almost at the same instant, and two of the birds came fluttering down, to thrash around in the bushes until put out of misery by the young hunters.
"Two of 'em! Think of that!" chuckled Fred. "Oh! this is simply glorious!"
So far the two boys had not met any of the strange hunters, but now they came across two men well loaded down with rabbits. They did not know it, but one of the men was a farm hand employed by Elias Lacy.
"You'd better keep away from the Lacy place," said the man, with a sarcastic look at the Rovers. He had been on hand when the lads had had the chestnuts taken away by the old farmer, and had also heard about the joke on Hallowe'en.
"Don't you worry. We've no use for Mr. Lacy," returned Fred, crossly.
"He's the meanest man we ever met," added Jack. At this the farm hand only grinned, and then he and his companion disappeared once more into the woods.
So far the day had been typical of the Autumn season, somewhat gray, with only an occasional showing of the sun. Now, however, it became rapidly darker, and presently a few flakes of snow sifted down through the air.
"Hello! What do you know about this!" cried Jack, looking up. "I guess we're going to have a snowstorm."
"Oh, I hope it doesn't snow very heavily—at least not until we get back to school," returned Fred, quickly.
"A little snow won't hurt us, Fred."