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92 It was no light task to reach a spot from which to shoot. They had to cross several depressions on the hillside, and here the undergrowth was so heavy that progress at times seemed impossible. Once Darry went into a hole up to his waist, and came out with several rents in his coat, where the thorns had clung to him.

"Oh!" he muttered. "Oh!"

"Are you hurt?" questioned Joe quickly.

"Not much, but I reckon I'm a good deal scratched up," answered Darry, with a wry face.

At last they gained a point well to leeward of the quarry, and Benson brought the party to a halt.

"We'll creep in as far as we can," he said. "But keep your guns ready for use, and as soon as one fires the others had best fire too, for the deer won't wait after one shot. Which will you take, captain?"

"I'll take the one near the big rock," answered Captain Moore. "Joe, you had better take the one on the knoll."

"I will."

"I'll take the one rubbing his side with his prong," put in Darry.

"And I'll take the one coming through the brush," finished old Benson. "Now then, forward. Make no noise, and be sure your gun