EARLY DAY STORIES. 203 



that this story is to conform chiefly to the title "Lying in 

 wait for game." 



We were caught in a blizzard the first night after reach- 

 ing our hunting grounds, and were glad to retrace our steps 

 three miles the next morning to the sod house of a settler. 

 Here we stayed through the storm, helping to twist hay 

 for the stove, for they used hay for fuel ; but the sod house 

 was warm and comfortable, and twisting hay was good ex- 

 ercise. After the storm we went out and had the good luck 

 to kill a white tail doe the first day, which kept the family 

 of the settler and ourselves eating while we were there. 



The next day we went west into the rough hills, hop- 

 ing to find a few black tail deer, but there were no signs 

 not even a track. The weather was intensely cold, and my 

 companion froze his nose before we had been out an hour. 

 Toward noon we found shelter from the keen northwest 

 wind in an old blow-out that had become grassed over, and 

 gathering up a big pile of red roots, we built a fire and were 

 making ourselves comfortable and were just beginning to 

 thaw out our luncheon, which had frozen in our pockets, 

 when looking over the narrow rim of the blow-out I saw 

 something moving that looked like a deer, about a mile away 

 to the north. With a field glass I could make out three 

 white tails just coming out of a range of low sand hills. 

 They were traveling toward us, sometimes loping for a little 

 way, then walking and stopping to feed, then loping again. 

 We hastily covered the fire with loose sand so as to prevent 

 the smoke from being seen by the game, and then, as my 

 nephew insisted that I should do the shooting, I made ready 

 in case they should come near enough. They came on 

 straight toward us, and we both kept peering over the rim, 

 showing only our heads, and moving as little as possible. 

 When about forty rods away they veered a little to the west 

 and were passing within easy range when I fired at the 

 largest and brought it down. I doubt if they had seen us 



