STORY OF THE DEP:R HUNT. 65 



" I begin to doubt, " saidJohnson, "that you shot that 

 deer at all, — you make so much of — " 



" — the accessories," added the Professor, by way of 

 helping- out. 



"By Jove," continued Johnson. " I believe you just cast 

 anchor, down there, lit your pipe, and this deer crawled 

 into your boat to be sociable, like,^and then you bloody 

 pirates cut his throat." 



Benson, who by this time had relighted his pipe, smiled 

 triiuuphantly and continued — "I can show you the buck- 

 shot holes in his skin, to answer that, — and there's the back 

 of my hand, and here's the blood-spots on my neck to sat- 

 isfy any gentleman that the live million were down there. 



"Well, (puff, puif,) as I was going on to sa}^ we pad 

 died along as carefully as if we were right in the midst of 

 a whole herd of deer fast asleep, and were as afraid as death 

 of 'em, for fully twenty minutes, when I heard another 

 little splash in the water and something dripping. Horace 

 heard it, too, — and it wasn't any frog-jump, this time, — 

 and he just turned that boat, bow on, towards that sound, 

 as if the old scow was on a greased pivot no bigger than a 

 pin, — shoved her ahead four or five rods, and there stood 

 my deer! He's a good looking buck now, although some- 

 what in a heap, — isn't he? But you should have seen him 

 then! He was up to his knees in the water, feeding on the 

 lily-pads; but *the moment the light caught his eye he 

 straightened up, and stood like a picture, — head up, nose a 

 little thrust out as if asking questions about this new thing. 

 May-be he thought it was some new sort of tire-tly that 



