A TRIAD OF RACOONS. 89 



Splinters of wood flew in all directions, and nearly blinded 

 me. Happily, I escaped with nothing worse than the 

 loss of one of the glasses of my spectacles. In a brief 

 while the tree cracked, inclined on one side, and finally 

 fell to the ground with an awful crash. 



By great St. Hubert ! we found perched on its branches 

 not a s'uiyle victim, but three plump racoons ! One of 

 them, a cunning fellow, had not awaited the fall of the 

 tulip-tree before springing to the earth ; the two others 

 sought refuge in the cavities of the trunk, but were un- 

 kennelled in a moment. The two young men undertook 

 their capture, while their father and I followed one of 

 the dogs, who raced in pursuit of the fugitive, filling the 

 air with his voice. We had to deal with an old racoon, 

 whose head was full of stratagems, and our chase, there- 

 fore, occupied us some time. However, I had the good 

 luck to sight him as he crossed a clearing in the wood, 

 and taking a steady aim, I sent a ball through his skull. 

 He rolled over and over for a few seconds, and then lay 

 still. He was of an unusual size. 



My host's sons had experienced no difficulty in catch- 

 ing their racoons. To kindle some brushwood, to smoke 

 out the burrow so infelicitously selected by the animals, 

 to watch for their unwilling emergence, arid knock them 

 down with a stick, was the work of some fifteen mi- 

 nutes ; the victims were stretched prone upon the earth 

 when we rejoined our hunters and the dogs, who had 

 grouped themselves round the waning fire. 



The moon had risen, and its silver light flooded the 

 mysterious glades of the forest. It was just the time 

 for a successful hunt ; and we pressed forward as swiftly 

 as the obstacles of the path permitted, ever and anon 



