"Ef they'd ever got as close to us as this they'd hev given us worse than a scare," confidently declared Cal.
By this time they had proceeded quite some distance, and Cal stopped Ding-dong with a question.
"Whereabouts were you when you fired?"
"I-I do-do-do-do-don't know," stuttered the lad.
"You don't know?" indignantly echoed Nat, "you're a fine woodsman."
"Y-y-y-y-yes I do t-t-t-too," Ding-dong hastened to amend, "I was here—right here."
He ascended a small knoll covered with grass, at the foot of one of the stone trees.
"Which direction did you fire in?" was Nat's next question.
"Off t-t-t-that w-w-w-w-w-way," spoke Ding-dong. "Wow, there he is now!"