190 EARLY DAY STORIES. 



time in another story. But there was no chance to consider 

 the question at that time. The aim was caught, the trigger 

 pulled, and the hair was seen to curl where the bullet struck 

 just back of the shoulder. The deer turned, and giving one 

 strong bound in an instant was out of sight in the blow-out. 

 Another cartridge was thrown in, and I was just at the point 

 of taking a step toward the blow-out, when another deer 

 came out on the jump, saw me and stopped to look. Again 

 I fired, but so quickly that I could not tell whether the deer 

 was struck or not. He, like the first one, turned, and with 

 one big jump landed out of sight in the blow-out. I had 

 not taken more than a step or two when out came another 

 deer, or one of the same that had already appeared, I could 

 not tell which, they all looked just alike. I supposed how- 

 ever that it was the second one shot at, for it seemed cer- 

 tain that the first one was hard hit, while it was uncertain 

 whether the second one was hit at all or not. This last one, 

 however, kept on running but was tumbled over before he 

 was sixty steps away. I now looked about to see what had 

 happened. I found one dead deer lying in the blow-out, and 

 another, the last one, where he fell about sixty steps further 

 north. Taking care of the two deer as quickly as possible, 

 and washing my hands in a pool of clear water at the bottom 

 of the blow-out, and shouldering the rifle I started north 

 to see what had become of the herd of a dozen or so that 

 I was creeping up to when I accidentally found the two just 

 killed. To my surprise they were in the same place they 

 were in when first seen. The wind was so strong from the 

 north that either they did not hear the crack of the rifle, or 

 else the sound was so deadened by the wind that they did 

 not notice it. It was easy to approach within seventy-five 

 or eighty steps, and lying flat on the ground, the rifle rest- 

 ing on a little hummock of earth on top of a knoll and tak- 

 ing careful aim I fired and missed. I never had a fairer 

 shot and, as I thought, never took more careful aim. The 



