Finally, after putting the cabin in order and attending to a dozen other chores, which the boys, in their eagerness to be away, thought might have been dispensed with, he announced that he was ready to go.
Armed with their rifles, and each with a pack on his back, the three hunters left the cabin and struck off through the woods. The air was crisp and exhilarating, and their high spirits prompted a rapid pace.
Ben kept his gaze on the ground ahead of him, in the hope of finding deer signs. Noting this, the boys quickly imitated his example. They flushed many grouse, and one alighted in a tree in plain sight of them, and stood conspicuously exposed to their aim. They were anxious to try a shot at so easy a mark, but were reminded that they were after larger game. Ben warned them that a needless shot ringing through the woods would frighten away any deer which might be lingering in the vicinity. The hint was sufficient, and, casting a longing look at the foolish bird, they followed obediently on after the guide.
At last they climbed to the top of a dividing ridge, and here Ben halted. He pointed to a slight depression in the carpet of dead leaves, and said it was a deer track. He explained that deer in their journeyings traveled along the summits of these low hills, which were then termed “runways.” Ben said that the ridge on which they stood was one.
Leading the way to a near-by boulder, he bade one of the boys climb to the top to watch the surrounding country for any sign of a buck. He left it to them to decide which one would remain there. Ed said he would stay; and, after cautioning him not to shoot until he saw the whole body and antlers of the animal aimed at, Ben ordered him to remain until he stopped for him on the way home. He told him, if he succeeded in shooting a deer, to fire two shots in rapid succession and, after a minute’s pause, two more.
Ed climbed to the top of the big rock, and sat down with his rifle across his knees. He waved his hand to Ben and George when they turned just before they disappeared from sight among the trees.
George was placed at another “runway,” about a mile farther on; and, after cautioning him as he had Ed, Ben said he was going on to try to scare out a deer. He said that anything he might start would be sure to come over one or the other of these “runways,” and warned George to be on his guard. Then with a wave of his arm he disappeared, and the boys were left alone in the heart of the wilderness.
Each boy remained at his post, expectantly gazing through the aisles of the vast forest which surrounded him. The noise of the wind through the tops of the trees; the squeaking of a leaning pine as it rubbed chafingly against its neighbor; the snap of a twig, or the sudden call of a jay, caused them to start nervously.
Several times George half rose and cocked his rifle when he thought he heard some animal walking about near him. But after watching with straining eyes and thumping heart and seeing nothing, he relaxed and made up his mind it must have been the wind, or a squirrel scurrying about among the leaves.
Suddenly a shot sounded from the direction in which he guessed Ed to be, and George jumped to his feet. Another roared through the woods a moment later, and echoed loudly between the mountains. For a minute or so all was still. Then two reports rang out in rapid succession and, after a minute, two more!