Hugh stopped his horse, and when Jack rode up beside him, said:
"Now, let's watch them rocks for a little while, and see whether we can see that fellow."
"What fellow do you mean, Hugh," said Jack; "the thing that made that noise?"
"Yes," said Hugh, "that's what some folks call a mountain marmot, but I call it a woodchuck, because it looks just like the woodchucks I used to see when I was a boy down in Kentucky, only it's considerable bigger, and it's got a kind of a yellow belly. It can make more noise for its size than most any beast I know of."
They sat there for a few moments and watched the rock about which the hot air was dancing, when suddenly Hugh said, "I believe I see him; I think he just stuck his head out of that crack in the rock. Do you see there, near the top? Follow that crack along with your eye and you'll notice a little grey knob that was not there a minute ago."
"Oh, I see it," said Jack.
"Well," said Hugh, "now watch that and see if it don't move."
After a few seconds the knob moved, and, in a minute an animal came out of the crevice in the rock and sat up.
"That would be a good shot," said Hugh, "if we had not come up here to try to hunt; but your uncle wants us to try to kill him some meat, if we can; so we won't shoot at woodchuck. Let's ride on and when we get a little nearer to him he'll give one them whistles of his and then dodge into that crack in the rock."
It happened just as Hugh had said, and soon after they began to move forward, the animal gave another shrill whistle and again disappeared from view.