Page:Young Hunters of the Lake.djvu/116

106 The young hunters stopped rowing and took up their shotguns with care. They allowed the boat to drift behind a screen of bushes on the side of the watercourse. Then they looked through the bushes with care.

"I know what they are—muskrats," whispered Giant.

"I see two of them," added Shep. He raised his gun and Giant did the same. Bang! bang! went both pieces, one directly after the other. The muskrats gave a leap upward and fell with a splash into the stream.

"We hit them, that's certain," said the doctor's son. "But they may get away."

Eagerly the boys rowed up to the spot where the muskrats had sat. Around the rocks the clear water was churned up into mud. But on the surface floated the two bodies of the creatures.

"I don't know what we are going to do with them," said Snap. "The skins are not very good this time of year."

"I couldn't resist bringing one of 'em down," said Shep.

"Just the way I felt," added Giant.

They continued on their way, and a few minutes later came to something of a cleared spot along the