you'll let me,"
said Whopper. "I am going to send him home to my folks, if Jed
will carry him."

"Sure I will, my lad, and I'll carry some more if you wish," Jed
continued, looking at the other young hunters.

"Let each of us send a turkey home," suggested Snap. "That will
show the folks that we are not starving." And so it was agreed.

Tying the turkeys in a bunch, they put them in a safe place on a
tree and then continued up the mountainside. The recent rains had
cleared the sky and washed the bushes and grass, and the view was
a most charming one. Soon they came to a small clearing and from
this could see over a large portion of the lake's surface.

"It certainly is a wild place," was Snap's comment. "But some
day the lumbermen will get in here, and then you'll see this forest
melt like magic."

"Yes, and half the charm will be gone," added Jed Sanborn. "Not much
left after a saw mill gets started in a place like this."

Noon came and found them well up on the mountain. So far they had
seen no game but the turkeys, nor had they seen a further trace of
the wildcats. They sat down in an open spot for lunch, and rested
for half an hour afterward.

When the hunt was resumed Jed Sanborn turned along the mountainside,
where there were a series of shelving rocks. He had gone but a
short distance when he uttered a cry:

"A bear! a bear!"

"Where?" asked all of the others simultaneously.

"Over on yonder cliff! There he goes!"

The young hunters looked in the direction indicated, and saw a bear
leaping swiftly from rock to rock. Almost before they knew it he
was out of sight. They were too far away to take a shot, much to
their disappointment.

"Any use of going after him?" asked Whopper.

"Not now," answered Jed Sanborn. "He'll be on guard all day. You
can come back some other day if you want to. But be careful he
don't chew ye up."

Again they went on, and now came to a slight hollow on the
mountainside. Suddenly Snap saw something moving cautiously over
the rocks close at hand.

"There's a wildcat!" he cried, and swinging around his gun he fired.
The wildcat was hit in the side but kept on. Then Giant fired,
hitting the beast in the head, and it rolled from the rocks to a
position almost at their feet.

"Is it dead?" asked the doctor's son.

"Dead as a door nail," announced the small youth, after an examination.

"I think that wildcat came from yonder hole in the rocks," said
Sna