A DEER CHASE. 141 



of the chase was over, and as I gazed on the wild, yet 

 mild and gentle eye of the noble creature, now glaz- 

 ing in death, a feeling of remorse arose in my heart. 

 I could have moralized an hour over the beautiful 

 form as it floated on the water. The velvet antlers 

 (they are now in their velvet) gave a more harmless 

 aspect to the head than the stubborn horn, and I 

 almost wished to recall him to life. It seemed impos- 

 sible that, a few minutes before, that delicate limbed 

 creature was treading in all the joy of freedom his 

 forest home. How wild had been his terror, as the 

 fierce cry of the hound first opened on his track ! 

 — ^how swift the race down the mountain side, and 

 how free and daring his plunge from the rock into the 

 wave ! How noble his struggles for life. But the 

 bold swimmer had been environed by foes too strong 

 for him, and he fell at last, where he could not 

 even turn at bay. The delicate nostril was relaxed 

 in death, and the slender limbs stiff and cold. 



I was awakened from my moralizing by Mitchell, 

 who that moment ceased rowing and gave a call. 

 The gallant white hound had followed the track of 

 the deer to the water, where he stood perplexed and 



