OF A RANCHMAN 179 



lie had evidently just left; a shout informed 

 me that the game was on foot, and imme- 

 diately afterward the crackling and snap- 

 ping of the branches were heard as the deer 

 rushed through them. I ran as rapidly and 

 quietly as possible toward the place where the 

 sounds seemed to indicate that he would 

 break cover, stopping under a small tree. A 

 minute afterward he appeared, some thirty 

 yards off on the edge of the thicket, and 

 halted for a second to look round before 

 going into the open. Only his head and 

 antlers were visible above the bushes which 

 hid from view the rest of his body. He 

 turned his head sharply toward me as I 

 raised the rifle, and the bullet went fairly 

 into his throat, just under the jaw, breaking 

 his neck, and bringing him down in his 

 tracks with hardly a kick. He was a fine 

 buck of eight points, unusually fat, consid- 

 ering that the rutting season was just over. 

 We dressed it at once, and, as the house 

 was so near, determined we would drag it 

 there over the snow ourselves, without go- 



