254 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



time, and just as the deceptive red man was giving vent to 

 a low and most loving grant. On seeing each other, they 

 forgot the call of love, however; and after gazing sternly at 

 one another for a few moments, and uttering cries of defi- 

 ance, they charged at full speed, and, meeting with a clang- 

 ing thud, were soon engaged in a desperate fight. They 

 struggled and pushed, and tried to get every advantage of 

 each other, but they were too evenly matched for either to 

 win an immediate victory. Their horns clashed and gave 

 forth a dull sound not unlike that produced by men fen- 

 cing rapidly with foils; but this was frequently drowned 

 by the tearing up of the ground, the scattering of the 

 leaves, the crashing of bushes, and the deep grunts of the 

 combatants. 



The contest was waging about five minutes, perhaps, 

 when the Indian ran up to us and said that we might be 

 able to kill both if we could steal upon them unawares. 

 We accordingly crept out of the thicket, and, advancing 

 as noiselessly and as rapidly as possible up wind, got with- 

 in thirty yards of them undetected, for they were oblivi- 

 ous of everything but the struggle, and, securing a shelter 

 behind a tree, and in a position where the moonbeams 

 streamed in clearly, we took aim at them while their ant- 

 lers were locked, fired, and when the smoke cleared away 

 we saw one on his knees, and the other trying to unlock 

 the entangled horns. I fired at the latter twice in rapid 

 succession, and had the satisfaction of seeing him stagger, 

 then fall over on his side. On approaching them, we found 

 the shoulder of the first one to be broken; but, as he was 

 not dead, the Indian finished him in a few moments by giv- 

 ing him three or four blows on the head with the axe. 



Both animals proved to be in excellent condition, and 

 were evidently full grown, as one boasted eighteen points 

 on his antlers, and the other sixteen. Having " drawn " 

 them, we covered them with boughs and leaves, marked 

 their position, then sallied out for new trophies. 



Moving onward cautiously, a walk of two miles or more 

 brought us into a charming coppice of foliaceous trees of 



