A NIGHT EXCURSION. 75 



out began to vanish, as if melting away in tlie dark- 

 ness. At first, I thought the whole had been a struc- 

 ture of mist, and was dissolving in my sight; but, cast- 

 ing my eyes beneath me, I saw we were receding 

 over the stars. Then I understood it all. Mitchell, 

 without making a sound, had drawn the boat slowly 

 backwards, causing the objects before me to fade thus 

 strangely from my sight. He knew the ground per- 

 fectly well, and could enter every bay and inlet as 

 accurately as in broad daylight. 



Pursuing our way up the channel, I was at length 

 startled by a low " hist!" The next moment I heard 

 the tread of a deer on the shore, and the light canoe 

 darted through the water till I could hear the low 

 ripple of the water around the bow. " Light up !" 

 said Mitchell in a whisper. As quietly as possible, I 

 kindled a match, and lighting a candle, put it in a 

 lantern made to fit the head like a hat, and clapping 

 it in the place of my cap, cocked my rifle and leaned 

 forward. The bright flame flared out upon the sur- 

 rounding gloom, and all was hush as death. But as 

 we advanced towards where the deer was standing, 

 the boat suddenly struck the dry limbs of a spruce 

 tree that had fallen in the water. Snap, snap went 

 the brittle twigs, one of them piercing our bark canoe. 

 We backed out of the dilemma as quick as possible ; 

 but the sound had alarmed the deer, and I could hear 

 his long bounds as he cleared the bank and made off 

 into the forest. 



After cruising about a little while longer, we put 

 back and crossed the lake to a deep bay on the far- 



