“Well, I guess wildcat is just as good to eat as screech owl, if only we can lay him out without our being torn to pieces.” Taking a good look around, so as to locate the vicinity in their minds, they struck out in the direction Harry had indicated. The creek was soon left behind, and they found themselves going down the side of a long hill. Luckily, there was a bare stretch on the hillside, otherwise they would have been compelled to move on in snow up to their waists. But the cleared run was where the wind blew the strongest, and this now took them almost off their feet. “Never mind; we’ll be safe under the rocks and brush,” shouted Harry, to his companion, above the roaring of the storm. “Look out so that you don’t roll down into some hole and out of sight!” “My! but it’s awful!” cried Jack. “Here, give me your hand, or we will be separated and won’t be able to find each other again.” They took hold of hands, and the next instant the wind threw them down on the hillside and rolled them over and over to the bottom. They landed in a doubled-up mass in the midst of a large drift. Jack went in head first, with Harry behind him. For a moment there was nothing to do but to flounder around until they could regain their feet. “Ugh! but that was a cold dose!” cried Jack, as he scraped the snow from around his neck and wrists. “We came down with a rush, didn’t we?” “Yes, we did that,” returned Harry. “It’s a good thing our guns didn’t go off in the tumble.” It was no easy matter to extricate themselves from the big drift. The snow was all around them, and at the very first step forward, they went down to their armpits. “Hold on!” cried Harry, in alarm. “Turn up the hill, or we’ll be over our heads!” So they turned about and half walked, half crawled up to solid ground. Here they could hardly keep their feet, so strong was the wind. “There is a clear space to our left,” said Jack. “Come on! We will soon be under the cliff!” Away he went, with Harry close behind him. The shelter under the trees and bushes was not less than two hundred feet away. As they advanced, a peculiar sound broke upon their ears. Jack heard it first, and called Harry’s attention to it. “What can it be?” he said. “Sounds like some sort of a bird,” replied Harry. “Let us have our guns ready. We do not wish to lose any game, now we have come so far for it.” On they went, with caution now, and their shotguns ready for instant use. They were within a hundred feet of the shelter, and could see the dim outline through the driving snow. “Wild turkeys!” suddenly called Harry. “Be careful, we must get as many of them as we can!” He motioned to a little cleared space just ahead. Then, with guns pointed, they ran forward.