Later in the day they again put on the snowshoes and made their way out on the lake. Suddenly George called to Ed and pointed excitedly to a tall pine that leaned out from the shore. Looking up into the branches, Ed saw a large white bird sitting stationary on its perch.
Ed volunteered to go to the cabin for a gun, and started for the shore at full speed. In his excitement he forgot all about keeping his feet apart, and before he had gone far he overlapped the toes of his snowshoes and took a “header.” But he quickly regained his feet and continued.
The big bird in the top of the tree began to twist its head uneasily, and George was disgusted when it finally spread its wings and sailed out over the lake and back toward the woods again. He instantly gave chase, and kept it in sight until it alighted in another tree some distance farther on.
When Ed returned to the border of the lake with the gun, he was surprised to find George nowhere in sight. But he followed the snowshoe trail around a projecting point of land. There he found George hidden in the bushes. Ed told him that Ben thought the bird might be a snowy owl.
Delighted at the prospect of procuring so rare a prize, they began a stealthy advance through the woods. They found traveling in the timber far more difficult than they had imagined. The snowshoes caught under logs and in bushes continually, and their progress was slow. After much labor they finally arrived at the base of the pine.
They looked for some time before they were able to discover the owl high above them. At last George pointed it out to Ed, who had the gun. He took careful aim and pulled the trigger. With the report, down came a shower of snow that almost blinded them. Then they saw the bird come flapping awkwardly to earth, and land, as they supposed, some distance away in the soft snow.
They at once hurried to the spot, but found no trace of the owl. They hunted diligently, and Ed, in disgust, declared the bird was no doubt lying in plain sight, but could not be seen against the white background of snow. They searched carefully through a fallen tree-top, beneath bushes, and behind rocks, but all in vain.
“I wish I hadn’t shot it,” Ed said, remorsefully, as he sat down to cool himself.
“We’ll find it about here somewhere,” replied George, hopefully.
Just then another mass of loosened snow came tumbling down on Ed, as the object of their search flapped helplessly to the ground from the forks of a small evergreen. With one wing dragging, it tumbled along over the snow and made away into the woods.