THE DEER HUNT. 95 



"Doctor, how's your back ?" 



" He he ! golly mighty I he quit saddle smart dat 

 time !" remarked Cassar. 



As we rode up to the hummock where we had started 

 the game, I found the place where I had shot the doe, 

 but she was not there, though the negroes said she had 

 fallen. 



" Throw off a dog, then," said Jackson. 



" Let Music try,?' said his daughter ; and accordingly 

 Music was loosened and sent in the grass. Music was a 

 young hound, spotted white and black, like a coach-dog, 

 and with such silky ears they felt like a satin robe in 

 your hand. She was led to the place where the deer had 

 fallen, and taking its track with a plaintive whimper, 

 commenced unwinding it from among the bushes and 

 reeds. Presently a louder effort warned us to beware, 

 and cantering apart a little, so as to be able to see all 

 around the hummock, Mike's grey eye caught a sight 

 of the doe trying to steal out of the bushes. A clear 

 ringmg shot was followed by a quick leap, and she fell 

 dead. 



"We laid them side by side, the stately buck and his 

 gentle consort. The dew of the morning was still glitter- 

 ing on their hides — their eyes were as bright and as full 

 as in life. I wondered if Miss Jackson felt any pity for 

 them, as she saw the dogs licking the blood that flowed 

 from their throats. 



One of the negroes dismounting from his pony, we 

 substituted the two deer in place, and tying their feet be-' 



