THE VIRGINIA DEER 127 



course, a mental reservation that may permit of provi- 

 dential interference in the case of a gopher-hole or 

 hidden log. It is all in the game, and it is a poor spirit 

 indeed that will not risk the candle. 



" The chase is clear away, and that, too, without giv- 

 ing the ghost of an opportunity on the-' jump.' But 

 the stand is gjUl ahead of the quarry, and by the exer- 

 cise of a little imagination we may aa^me that we 

 have elected to wait for fortune rather than to follow 

 it. 



" It is quiet here in the deep woods, quiet with the 

 stillness of a New England Sunday morning. We are 

 stationed some three hundred yards apart (out of gun- 

 shot — for rifles are not allowed) with the horses 

 tethered safely in some hollow beyond. The sunlight 

 flickers down through the pine-tops, changing the 

 brown needles into masses of dull gold, while sharp 

 against the heavenly blue stands out an enormous 

 holly-bush, gorgeous in its Christmas raiment of green 

 and scarlet. It is peace and good-will again on earth, 

 and then — the gentleman from New Jersey grasps his 

 gun nervously with both hands — can it be that this 

 ' cruel war ' is not yet over? Surely that was the old 

 Confederate yell; and was it the Louisiana 'Tigers' or 

 the ' Black Horse Cavalry ' ? Steady ! that is ' Black 

 Rouser's' voice, and our host expects every man to do 

 his duty if we are to have venison-steak for supper. 

 Motionless as graven images — for the least flutter will 

 cause the deer to swerve — ^we stand waiting. The 

 novice feels his heart thumping wildly, and there is a 

 blue haze before his eyes. He almost wishes that the 

 chance may not come to him, and an instant after bit- 



/ 



