s VIRCIXIA.MS. 129 



very monotonous, and finally even the flics fail to keep up the ex- 

 citement. The drowsy hunter nods, his eyes close, and his head 

 hangs heavily upon his breast. Suddenly an owl, on a low limb 

 overhead, utters one of his loudest and most startling cries. The 

 affrighted sportsman cocks both barrels of his gun, expecting to 

 detect the crouching form of a panther preparing for the fatal 

 spring. On being assured of the harmless nature of his imaginary 

 foe he cannot suppress a groan of mortification and disgust while 

 he endeavors to regain his equanimity. Beads of cold sweat 

 mingle with the oil upon his forehead as he solemnly and silently 

 vows that floating is a diversion into which he will never a^ain be 



c> O 



beguiled. Pie feels chill)', and wonders if this is really a sample 

 of Adirondack sport, or if his guide has been playing him a trick. 

 While his mind is occupied with these meditations they have 

 reached the lake, and the guide, anxious not to return empty- 

 handed, has put the boat into a shallow bay and is working it 

 slowly ahead amongst the lily-pads. The sportsman, now too cold 

 to sleep, feels the boat slacken its headway and stop. He wonders 

 if the guide has dropped off in a doze and is about to turn and in- 

 vestigate when the word " shoot," uttered in a low whisper, falls 

 upon his ears. He doesn't see anything to shoot, but on looking 

 more closely, discovers, partly hidden behind a bush, the form of 

 a Deer, as motionless as a statue, gazing inquiringly at the light. 

 Raising the gun nervously to his shoulder he fires. A desperate 

 leap, a wild plunge ahead, a heavy fall, and a noble buck lies dead 

 upon the bank. 



Driving consists in chasing a Deer with hounds, and killing it, 

 if possible, when it takes to water. A Deer is not much afraid of 

 a dog, and when the latter commences to bay on the track does 

 not start off at once, but waits till sure that the hound is really 

 chasing it. It then moves away at a brisk pace, rapidly distancing 

 its pursuer, and is apt to run several miles, circling through valleys 

 and over hills, before taking to water. If now a stream of an)- 



