ads. Is every gun ready for use?"

"Mine is!" came from one after another, as the examination was made.

"Good! Now remember, if we come up to the deer and you shoot, aim
for the one that's in line with you---that is, the boy on the left
takes the left deer, the boy on the right takes the deer on the
right, a boy in the middle takes one in the middle, and so on.
Do you understand that?"

They all said that they did.

"Very good. Now, one thing more. Don't get scared. Shoot quickly,
but take as good an aim as you possibly can. If the deer is coming
toward you, let him git putty close before you let drive."

Having issued these instructions, the old hunter moved on once more,
and the boys followed. Each had his weapon ready for use, and each
advanced with as little noise as possible.

The deer were in a little glade, cropping the tender grass around a
small spring. They were six in number, including a fair-sized buck,
who occasionally raised his head, as if on guard. But the wind, as
Jed Sanborn had said, was blowing directly from the deer to the
hunters, so nothing in the air gave the game the alarm until it was
too late.

When the old hunter raised his hand, the boys knew it was a signal
to halt. Jed Sanborn crouched low and wormed his way to some bushes
fringing the glade, and the young hunters did the same.

It was a thrilling sight and it made the boys tremble in eager
anticipation. Not a word was spoken, for they scarcely dared
to breathe.

In a minute each hunter had his gun into position, Giant resting
on a rock and Whopper in the crotch of a low tree.

"I'll take the buck," whispered Jed Sanborn. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"Then fire!"

Crack! went the several firearms, in a scattering volley, and the
buck and one of the others pitched headlong, not to rise. Another
deer was hit in the side, but leaped into the bushes and was soon
lost to sight. Still another went limping off on three legs.

"After 'em! Finish 'em up!" yelled Jed Sanborn, and led in the chase,
across the glade and into the brushwood beyond. Here they caught
sight of the limping deer, and all of the boys gave it a shot,
which finished it in short order.

"Three, anyway," was the old hunter's comment. "Not so bad."

"You brought down the buck and Snap brought down the deer near him,"
said Whopper.

"And all of you brought down the third one," said Snap. "I think as
Jed says, it is not such a bad haul."

"Can we get