Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-11-08
HUNTING A WILD 1uRkrv

WILL Turkey.
"s sAot at a Great Bird RHINE. rY,..
m Do"n In the Woods.
sun sank further toward the
"es'' and the shadows of the -
grew longer and longer. JacL COLT.
sr ning' and enjoying the warm sol;trda
ne sun sank lower and lower.
an de turkey, Massa Dennis ..;a
Little Coffee suddenly, and lack VIZ
thoughts had been WANDERING c,n,e
Sharply and keenly back to himself
Dennis started up from where h. To-.
ana looked in the direction in xvh;oi
Little Coffee was pointing Jacl.
raised himself cautiously and looked
TOO. The turkeys had come ont fro,,
'he woods without any of the three
seeing them until that moment rho
ieealng IN the opening about
iuriohg away, and maybe fifty or sixty
Sa1os from the edge of the woods.
tennis arose and took his gun with
o' Speaking. Then, partly crouchiup
ie shirted back into the woods. lack
.oiiow1ng him and Little Coffee follow
ing Jack They went on for some dis
lance, and then Dennis turned sharnlv
Out again toward the edge of the
woous- lie went forward now very
SLOWLY and cautiously, and Jack fol-
lowed him half crouching. He found
Una. ms heart was humping heavily
wI'hin him. He was intensely excited
would Dennis really shoot one of the
turkeys?
wait little" said Dennis without
turning around-'.wait a little until 7
see where / be-
Jack could now see betveen tho
tn1ckets that the clearing was lust
aheao OF them. Dennis crept cautious
~ forward, and Jack stood watching
MIN PRESENTLY he saw that Dennis was
reckoning to him to come forward. He
dld SO. coming very carefully Den
ms was crouched down looking out
through the bushes, and Jack came
close to him. Little Coffee followed
them. He peered out from between
the leaves. and there were the turkeys.
perhaps fifty or sixty yards away-a
great cock turkey, and three or four
hens, each with a brood of some dozen
turkey-poults, perhaps as large as so
many pullets. To Jacks eyes the great
birds looked very big and very neat
'''Tis like if we went on a little
furder," whispered Dennis, I'VE could
to risk shot from here"
Jack did not ssay anything. His
heart was beating and throbbing vio-
1ently. Dennis cruched for a moment
or two, looking at the turkeys Then
he carefully raised his gun and thrust
1t out through fork of the bush
in front of him. He took
long. steady aim. Jack waited.
hardly daring to breathe, every
nerve tensely braced to meet the shock
was no report. Suddenly Dennis low
cred the gum from his shoulder. Jacks
nerves relaxed thrilling.
ST is like they are too far away for
a sure shot" said Dennis. 1--WE a mind
to try and get higher to them around
that point of woods yonder''
Jack drew deep breath almost like
a sigh. Then he saw that Dennis was
aiming the gun again. Something must
have alarmed the birds, for the great
cock raised his head and looked sharply
this way and that. Then suddenly,
= when Jack was not expecting it, there
came the stunning, deafening report of
the gun. A cloud of pungent smoke
hid everything for little while. Then
it had dissolved. Could Jack believe
his eyes? The great turkeycock was
Tapping and struggling upon the
ground.
He leaped up with shout and ran
out into the clearing. He heard Little
Coffee shout behind him. He ran for
ward through the long, shaggy grass,
jumping over the stumps. He had
vision of the rest of the turkeys scat
tering with shrill, piping cries towards
the woods, half-fying, half-running,
but the great turkey cock still lay flap
ping upon the ground. 1t was nearly
still when he reached it; its half-closed
eyes were still bright with the life that
had just left them. There it lay upon
the ground. Jack looked down at it in
an ecstasy. The sun shone upon the
FURNISHED, metallic luster of its neck
feathers-purple, blue, green. Its
great horny foot made a futile, scratch
ing struggle, and then it was still
Howard Ryle, in st. Nicholas.