A moment later a shot was heard from the Doctor's gun, and then another came ringing through the woods, followed by a shout from Fred for assistance. Frank ran to his cousin, and found that he had wounded a boar, but had not killed him, and while he was reloading his gun the weapon became clogged, and the cartridge would neither go back nor forward. The boar was dashing wildly about, and threatening danger to the youth; the latter was endeavoring to keep a tree between himself and the infuriated beast, and, with his disabled gun in his hand, was somewhat awkwardly situated.
"Finish him! finish him!" said Fred, "and be quick about it!"
Frank performed the finishing touch almost as soon as Fred pronounced the words. The boar fell dead at the shot, and gave Fred the opportunity to devote his entire attention to putting his gun into a serviceable condition again. In a few minutes the refractory cartridge was removed, and then the boys surveyed their game.
"Seems to me he's a good-sized one," said Fred; "and see, he has a pair of tusks; they are not large, but we must keep them as a trophy of our day's hunting in Luzon."
"Yes," replied Frank, "but how shall we divide a pair of tusks? We must shoot another like him, and then we can have a fair trophy for each of us."
"We'll stay here together," Fred answered, "and when the next one comes we'll both shoot him, and the honors will be equal."
Just as he spoke there was another crash in the bushes, and a boar, that might have been a brother of the dead one, made his appearance. Frank was first to fire, and Fred immediately followed with a shot. Between them they killed the animal, and in such a way that neither could claim all the glory of the slaughter. As Fred had predicted, the honor was divided, and they were partners in possession of the game.
Other shots soon followed from the Doctor and their host; and then there was a long interval, with not a sound to break the stillness. Then the beaters made their appearance; the horn was blown to announce the end of the hunt, and the party assembled for the return homeward. Everybody was in fine spirits, as the chase had been successful, not only for the party collectively, but for each individual. The attendants went to collect the game, and, when it was all brought together, there was a goodly amount of it. Four deer and seven wild hogs comprised the result of the day's shooting, without counting the snake; Frank thought the latter should be included, and remarked that snake-shooting was fairly entitled to be ranked as hunting, when the snake was a large one.