THE DANGERS OF FIKE HUNTING. 53 



light. But no deer rewarded our search ; no bear 

 showed us his heavy coat. 



" Faith,", said the Doctor, " this romantic promenade 

 is getting somewhat long." 



" Think of the deer, one buck will well pay us." 



" Fudge ! if there was no one to laugh at us, I would 

 have turned back long ago. Give me the gun, and you 

 take the light." 



Accordingly we changed positions — I going ahead, 

 carrying the torch before me, in such a manner that it 

 would throw the light ahead as much as possible, and 

 none on our persons, and the Doctor received the gun. 

 and took my place directly behind and shaded by my 

 person. The night had become still darker, and a misty 

 rain commenced falling. We had left the pine woods, 

 after walking a couple of miles, and had come into a grove 

 of lower timber. The long moss drooped in curtains, the 

 odor of magnolias burdened the air, and every minute a 

 denser copse would force us to turn aside from our route. 



" Hush !" whispered the Doctor, suddenly, Avith a 

 spasmodic pull at my coat tail, " there's a deer." 



I was just wondermg at this absence of deer, and 

 could not account for it, as it was a rare thing to go a 

 mile in Florida without seeing one. 



" Where ?" I whispered ; " I don't see it." 



" Hush ! it has gone now ; but we will see it in a 

 moment again." 



We advanced on tiptoe, both in body and expectation. 



" There ! there !" said the Doctor, pointing with his 



