a good search about the mountain chasms
and ravines, and see if there were any prospect of success.

The place reached was very rugged, but it had an indescribable charm
from the varied tints of the rocks and the clumps of bushes, with here
and there a low scrubby tree, some of which proved to be laden with wild
plums.

"Why, those are wild grapes too, are they not?" said Bart, pointing to
some clustering vines which hung over the rocks laden with purpling
berries.

"That they be," said Joses; "and as sour as sour, I'll bet. But I say,
Master Bart, hear that?"

"What! that piping noise?" replied Bart. "I was wondering what it could
be."

"I'll tell you, lad," said Joses, chuckling. "That's young wild turkeys
calling to one another, and if we don't have a few to roast it shan't be
our fault."

The Doctor was told of the find, and after all had been made snug, it
was resolved to take guns and rifles, and search for something likely to
prove an agreeable change.

"For we may as well enjoy ourselves, Bart, and supply Madam Maude here
with a few good things for our pic-nic pot."

The heat of the evening and the exertion of the long day's journey made
the party rather reluctant to stir after their meal, but at last guns
were taken, and in the hope of securing a few of the wild turkeys, a
start was made; but after a stroll in different directions, Joses began
to shake his head, and to say that it would be no use till daybreak, for
the turkeys had gone to roost.

Walking, too, was difficult, and there were so many thorns, that, out of
kindness to his child, the Doctor proposed that they should return to
the tent; signals were made to the men at a distance, and thoroughly
enjoying the cool, delicious air of approaching eve, they had nearly
reached the tent, when about a hundred yards of the roughest ground had
to be traversed--a part that seemed as if giants had been hurling down
huge masses of the mountain to form a new chaos, among whose mighty
boulders, awkward thorns, huge prickly cacti, and wild plums, grew in
profusion.

"What a place to turn into a wild garden, Bart!" said the Doctor,
suddenly.

"I had been thinking so," cried Maude, eagerly. "What a place to build
a house!"

"And feed cattle, eh?" said the Doctor. "Very pretty to look at, my
child, but I'm afraid that unless we could live by our guns, we should
starve."

"Hough--hough--hough!" came from beyond a rugged piece of rock.

"O father!