58 SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



way, without the slightest hesitation, along a path 

 in the forest, and we did our best to folloAv them 

 through the almost impassable windings of that 

 path, enmeshed with brambles, roots, and the sharp 

 leaves of the arbutus. The path was quite as bad 

 as my host had announced it to be. Now we 

 arrived at a piece of boggy ground, and the soil was 

 so slippery, that we stumbled at every step ; some- 

 times I stumbled against the trunk of a tree that 

 had been felled, and presently a bramble threatened 

 to upset my hat or my spectacles. At a moment 

 when I least expected it, I was pulled up short, for 

 my foot, or rather my boot, was fixed between two 

 branches of root, which had arranged themselves in 

 the shape of a bootjack, and from which I could 

 not extricate myself without the assistance of my 

 comrades' axes. This absurd incident seemed to 

 give a piquancy to the adventure. We proceeded 

 on our way, and presently arrived at a bog, into 

 which a raccoon had plunged, the better to defend 

 himself from the teeth of the dogs. By the light 

 of the darlde's torch, we soon discovered the brute 

 struggling through the mud, which reached up to 

 his belly. His hair was on end, which made his 

 body look enormous ; and his tail was so set up, 

 that he looked like a very large -sized wolf. He was 

 foaming at the mouth, and his eyes Avere full of fire 

 and flame, as he held himself in readiness to seize 

 the first dog by the nose who should dare to come 



