On they tramped until a good quarter of a mile had been covered. Then they caught sight of several rabbits, and brought down two of them.
Later still they saw a squirrel, but though Spouter shot at the frisky creature, it managed to elude him.
"Well, we can"t expect to bag everything we shoot at," consoled Jack.
"I think I know of a short cut from here to the Lodge," said Gif. "So if you would rather tramp through the woods than go back by way of the river, we might do so and get a chance at some other game."
"All right, Gif; lead the way," said Jack, and they went forward under Gif"s guidance.
They were deep in the forest when they heard a whir overhead. They looked up quickly to see a number of partridges sailing past close to the tree tops.
"Quick!" yelled Jack, and blazed away, while all of the others did the same.
CHAPTER XX
LOST IN THE WOODS
There was no time wasted in shooting at the partridges which were flying along so close to the tree tops. The six cadets did their best but four of the charges went wild. The aim of Jack and Gif was effective, and one wounded partridge came fluttering down to the snow while another dropped dead on the branches of a nearby cedar.
"Hurrah! we"ve got two of them, anyhow," cried Gif, as he reached forward and quickly put the wounded bird out of its misery.
"We"ve got two provided we can reach that one up in the tree," answered Jack. "I"m afraid it"s going to be some climb to get it down."
"That"s so," said Randy.
"Oh, I can get up there in no time!" cried Andy gayly. "Here, take my gun," and with his usual agility he was soon mounting the branches of the big tree, taking particular delight in shaking down great ma.s.ses of loose snow on the heads of those below.
As is usual with cedars, the branches were close together, and Andy soon found he would have his own troubles in reaching the point where the dead partridge rested. However, he kept on, worming his way upward as best he could, until he was within a few feet of the prize.
"Some climb, believe me!" he called out to those below. "This tree is almost as close-grown as a cedar bush."
Up went Andy, and presently managed to get hold of the dead partridge and drew the game toward him. Just as he did this he heard a peculiar sound a few feet below him on the other side of the tree.
"h.e.l.lo! is somebody following me?" he questioned, looking down to see what the movement among the branches below meant.
There was no reply to his question, and Andy came to the conclusion that the branches must have become crossed in some way and then loosened themselves. He continued his descent, but just as he reached a branch two feet further down a peculiar cry came to his alert ears, a cry not unlike that of an angry cat.
"h.e.l.lo! something is up in this tree, that is sure," he told himself.
He listened, and then heard another cry, this time less than two yards below him, coming from one of the larger branches of the big cedar. At once he sent up a shout.
"What"s wanted?" questioned his twin. "Why don"t you hurry up down so we can do some more hunting?"
"There is some wild animal in this tree!" answered Andy. "I don"t know what it is, but it sounds like a wildcat."
"A wildcat!" burst out several of the others.
"And Andy hasn"t any gun!" cried Gif. "Come on, let us see if we can"t shoot the thing!"
"Go slow there," cautioned Jack. "Let us see if we can"t locate it and find out what it is first. We don"t want it to attack Andy while he is unarmed."
"Are you in any danger, Andy?" called out Fred.
"Where is the cat--or whatever it is?" asked Randy.
"It"s just below me somewhere. I can"t see it, but I can hear it plainly enough. It"s moving around in those lower branches. I guess I had better stay up here for a while;" and as he spoke Andy mounted to a higher limb. With no weapon handy, he had no desire to face any wild animal.
Those below slowly circled the big cedar, keeping their eyes on the alert for a view of whatever might be prowling around among the branches. They had their guns ready for use, but realized that they must fire with great caution, or otherwise they might hit the lad who was in peril.
"I suppose the wildcat, or whatever it is, was up in the tree and didn"t know what to do when Andy started to come up. The beast knew we were down here, or otherwise it would probably have jumped down and run off."
"Squirrels don"t cry like a cat, and I heard that beast just cry," said Jack. "All squirrels do is to chatter."
"There"s another danger," said Gif. "If we come too close to that tree we"ll probably drive the wildcat, or whatever it is, up to where Andy is."
"Here"s the bird!" shouted Andy from above, and threw the partridge down and away from the tree.
Jack and Andy"s twin took a few steps closer to the big cedar, at the same time holding their guns ready for instant use. They peered upward among the snow-laden branches, and presently caught sight of a slinking form resting in a crotch of the tree.
"There it is!" exclaimed Randy, and was on the point of firing when the wildcat--for such it had proved to be--dropped out of sight and leaped to a branch on the other side of the tree trunk.
"Hi there! don"t drive that beast up here," called out Andy.
"Andy," called back his twin suddenly, "weren"t you carrying that flashlight?"
"No, I left it at the Lodge. I didn"t think I would want it on the trip to Henryville."
"I"ve got my flashlight," remarked Gif. "Here it is," and he brought it forth.
The light was flashed up into the tree and around from branch to branch.
As the rays traveled through the cedar there was a sudden wild cry from the animal, and then came a swish and a whirr as the wildcat sprang to the outer end of a limb and then down into the snow.
Bang! bang! bang! went the guns in the hands of Gif, Randy, and Spouter.
But whether they hit the wildcat or not, they could not tell. There was a whirl in the snow, and then in a twinkling the beast had disappeared into the forest behind them.
"Well, it"s gone, anyhow," declared Jack, in a tone of great relief.
"You can come down, Andy."
Andy was soon out of the tree, and, having picked up the two partridges, the six young hunters continued on their way, as they supposed, in the direction of Cedar Lodge.
Presently they came to another clearing, and on the far side of this noted some animals hopping about which they felt certain must be rabbits.
"Let"s go over there!" cried Fred excitedly. "Maybe we can make a good haul."
"It"s a pretty good tramp around to the other side of this clearing,"