id Henry. "We must be at least fifteen miles west
of the great trail, and as the woods are so full of game I don't think
any of the Indian hunters will find it necessary to come this far for
it. So, I propose that we have a little warm food ourselves. We need it
by this time."

"That's the talk," said Long Jim. "It would be jest a taste uv Heaven
right now. What wuz you thinkin' to hev fur our supper table, Henry?"

"I had an idea that all of us would like turkey. I've been noticing
turkey signs for some time, and there, Jim! don't you hear that
gobbling away off to the right? They're settling into the trees for the
night, and it should be easy to get a couple. Just now I think turkey
would be the finest thing in the world."

"I've a mighty strong hankerin' after turkey myself an' the way I kin
cook turkey is a caution to sinners. Ever since you said turkeys a half
minute ago, Henry, I'm famishin'. Bring on your turkey, the cook's
ready."

"Me an' Sol will go an' git 'em," said Tom Ross, and the two slipped
away in the twilight toward the sound of the gobbling. Presently they
heard two shots and then the hunters came back, each with a fat bird.
Selecting a dip from which flames could be seen only a little distance,
they dressed the turkeys in frontier fashion and Long Jim, his culinary
pride strong within him, cooked them to a turn. Then they ate long, and
were unashamed.

"Jest a touch o' Heaven right now," said Shif'less Sol, in tones of deep
conviction. "This is the healthy life here, an' it makes a feller jump
when he oughter jump. Me bein' a naterally lazy man, I'd be likely to
lay 'roun' an' eat myself so fat I couldn't walk, but the Injun's don't
give me time. Jest when I begin to put on flesh they take after me an' I
run it all off. You wouldn't think it, but Injuns has their uses, arter
all."

"Keep people from comin' out here too fast," said Ross. "Think they wuz
put in the wilderness to save it, an' they will, long after my time."

"Why, Tom," said the shiftless one, "you're becomin' real talkative. I
think that's the longest speech I ever heard you make."

"Tom is certainly growing garrulous," said Paul.

Silent Tom blushed despite his tan.

"I'm through, anyway," he said.

"Guess Sol thought Tom wuz takin' part uv his time," said Long Jim Hart.
"That's why he spoke up. Sol claims all uv his own time fur talkin', all
uv Tom's, an' all the rest that may be left over by any uv us."

"Mighty litt