148 SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



"What shall we do?" cried Slouch. " If we 

 buiy the brute, the smell will soon betray us, and 

 if we throw it in the pond, it will be exactly the 

 same thing. Ah ! I know. You lend me a hand, 

 Pompey, and no one will be a bit the wiser." 



The two poachers dragged the carcase towards a 

 dense thicket, and hoisted the colt upon it, impaling 

 it by the wound which the ball had made upon a 

 sharp spike of wood. 



" To-morrow," said Slouch, " the eagles and 

 buzzards will have had their share, and by night 

 no one will be a bit the wiser how the colt died. 

 Everybody will think that he was staked in trying 

 to jump the hedge. Now you take the deer to 

 Jack the coachman, and tell him to book it on to 

 Charleston, to the address you know of. Be off 

 with you ; there'll be a dollar and two pound of 

 'bacca for your share. Take Mr. Rensom's mare 

 with you, and then she can't go hunting after her 

 colt." 



The two poachers separated, and whilst Slouch, 

 the dishonest overseer, was sleeping quietly, Pompey, 

 obeying orders, was mounted on the mare, taking 

 the venison on its way to Charleston Market. That 

 done, Pompey was on his way back again towards 

 his master's house, when, suddenly, the mare shied 

 and threw him. There was an explosion of a gun, 

 and then fearful groans disturbed the stillness of 

 the night. To jump upon his feet, and run in the 



