AN OBSTINATE TEIGGEE. 99 



his tawny hide, still never for sufficient length of time to 

 get a fair chance to shoot, and I was unwillingly com- 

 pelled to keep tracking. About fifty yards from where I 

 stood, a small river, not over ninety feet across, named the 

 Ambaras, wound its sluggish, peaceful way towards its 

 parent stream, the Wabash, and direct for the nearest part 

 of this river the deer had gone. Still I could not bring 

 myself to believe that a buck at this season, with plenty of 

 ice in the water, would hazard an aquatic performance ; 

 but my doubts were soon solved, for on reaching the 

 margin, with surprise I saw the deer upon the ledge of 

 ice attached to the bank struggling violently to keep his 

 footing, the disabled leg, which appeared to hang power- 

 less, evidently now causing serious inconvenience to his 

 progress over the slippery surface. Such an opportunity 

 to finish my work was not to be neglected, so cocking the 

 rifle I pitched it forward and drew a bead, but still no 

 report followed. All my power and exertion could not 

 pull the trigger. Again and again I looked at the lock, 

 and essayed another effort, but with the same result. At 

 length, in despair, I desisted, and the deer, having altered 

 his mind, came ashore and disappeared through the 

 tangled brake. Of course, to examine the gun and inform 

 myself what was wrong was my first thought My sur- 

 prise may be well imagined when, with all my endeavours, 

 I could not get the hammer down ; there it would stand, 

 not a particle of compromise was in the confounded thing. 

 All my skill in mechanism was called into play, all my 

 past experience put to use, and not until my patience Was 

 nearly exhausted did I discover the use of the second 



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