MESSING AROUND IN MEXICO 



thing, but it was not. Either the game lay 

 close or at this season it was farther inland, 

 but even so it was not long before the enter- 

 tainment began. 



Elmer and I topped a steep ridge, and as we 

 stepped to the edge of the bluff a sudden 

 movement below halted us. Out from the 

 right and considerably below us burst a buck 

 that looked as if he had a rocking-chair on his 

 head. He was perhaps two hundred and fifty 

 yards distant, and he made a spectacle. 

 Nature's knack for protective coloring is well 

 illustrated in these burro-deer; in repose, they 

 blend perfectly into the background. It is 

 only while in motion that the eye readily picks 

 them up, and this deer was certainly in motion. 

 No deer of my acquaintance ever displayed 

 more motion in the same length of time. He 

 was headed across stage, but it was clear 

 shooting, and I completely ruined his whole 

 evening. I shot four times, and was rather 

 surprised to find, when we got down to him, 

 that I had hit him four times, twice within a 

 hand's breadth of the heart. It was lucky 

 shooting, downhill at that distance and at his 

 rate of speed. 



He had looked small from the top of the 

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