130 EARLY DAY STORIES. 



not get in a second shot before they were too far away. 

 Dressing the deer, I followed on after the others and found 

 them in a patch of brush in a ravine, not more than forty 

 rods from the place where Ben Moon's house now stands. 

 I think I saw the deer before they saw me, but could see 

 no way to approach them near enough for a shot without 

 exposing myself. I therefore lay flat down and crawled 

 through the snow until near enough for a pretty fair shot. 

 Selecting the one that appeared to be the largest I fired. 

 The deer made two or three jumps and fell in the bottom 

 of the ravine. The others ran south but stopped soon after 

 reaching the top of the bank, when I fired again and missed. 

 As soon as this second deer was attended to I started again 

 on the track. The next time I came upon them they were 

 lying in the open prairie on the place now owned by N. P. 

 Swanson. There was no chance this time, and they ran 

 when I was almost a quarter of a mile away. I then did 

 not expect to get another shot, but as they ran southwest 

 which was almost in the direction toward home, I followed 

 on, when about a mile west of the Morris Murphy farm I 

 struck a draw, the head of which was filled with sumach 

 bushes and big weeds, and from this cover the three deer 

 jumped out. There was a chance for a good running shot, 

 and that shot brought down the third deer. A second run- 

 ning shot was taken but without effect excepting to increase 

 the speed of the game, the shot falling behind and throwing 

 up the snow where the ball struck. It was now getting well 

 along in the afternoon, and I struck out for home as soon 

 as the last deer was dressed. I learned from C. P. Mathew- 

 son of Norfolk, a successful hunter himself, that if a hand- 

 kerchief or -any piece of cloth that had been upon one's 

 person, was tied upon a stick or weed near any game killed, 

 neither the big wolves, nor the coyotes would touch the 

 game. I found from experience that this was true. The 

 wolf is a very cowardly and suspicious animal, and will not 



