break the force of the wind, except the woods, we felt it more severely.




CHAPTER X.

HOW WE GOT INTO TROUBLE ONE NIGHT, AND I SCARED.


One warm day in winter father and I went hunting. I had the rifle that
day. We went south, crossed the windfall and Reed creek, and went into
what we called the "big woods." We followed deer, but seemed to be very
unlucky, for I couldn't shoot them. We travelled in the woods all day and
hunted the best we could.

Just at sundown, deer that have been followed all day are apt to stop and
browse a little. Then if the wind is favorable and blowing from them to
you, it is possible to get a shot at them; but if the wind is blowing
from you to them, you can't get within gunshot of them. They will scent
you. They happened to be on the windward side, as we called it. I got a
shot at one and killed it. It was late and, carelessly, I didn't load the
rifle. It being near night, I thought I should not have a chance to shoot
anything more.

It was my custom to load the rifle after shooting, and if I didn't have
any use for it before, when I got near home, I shot at a mark on a tree
or something. In that way I practiced shooting and let the folks know I
was coming. In this way I also kept the rifle from rusting, as sometimes
it was wet; when I got into the house I cleaned it off and wiped it out.