"My eye! look at that whopping big long-ears over there," cried Hackett; "if I'd only had my gun in hand," he added, regretfully, as the bunny disappeared.
"We are hunters brave and bold,
And fear not wind or cold—
When seeking game.
Big birds look out, and small ones fly away;
Wise bears and wolves won't join the fray—
For Hacky's after game."
Nat improvised these lines, his old-time spirit reasserting itself.
"Rah, rah—yi, yi—bing, bang, boom!" joined in Hackett, lustily. "And I'm going to get some game, too. Don't you forget it."
Soon a stretch of pine woods was reached. It grew thicker and thicker, until the blue sky was almost shut from view. Underbrush and trailing vines were in profusion.