284 CKU1SINGS IX THE CASCADES 



striven to hold the front sight on one or the other 

 of the deer at each shot after the first, I had entirely 

 forgotten to look through the notch in the rear 

 sight. Chagrined and mortified beyond all power 

 to describe, I trudged along and finally reached the 

 burn I was in search of. The sun was now high 

 in the heavens and shining brightly, so that the 

 game was no longer on foot, but had sought the 

 seclusion of various bits of dense cover and lain 

 down. My only chance for a shot was, therefore, in 

 walking them up, which I proceeded to do. The 

 brush was dense all over this burn, so that I could 

 rarely see twenty yards in any direction, yet I hoped 

 against hope for another chance. I was desperate 

 over the disgraceful failures I had made, and yet I 

 knew I could shoot. I had killed quantities of small 

 game with the same rifle I was then using and had 

 killed one deer years ago with an old muzzle loader. 

 I could always depend upon making a good fair 

 score at the target at 200 yards, or even longer 

 ranges, and yet I had shot away a dozen cartridges 

 this morning at deer, some of which were standing 

 within a few yards of me, and had not stopped one 

 of them. I was furious, and determined that the 

 next shot should tell. 



I walked down an old logging-road several hundred 

 yards, hoping that some belated traveler might be 

 found crossing or walking in it, but, failing in this, 

 I turned out and walked along the crest of a ridge, 

 looking down both sides of it. Struggling through 

 briers and brush, making a good deal of noise, una- 

 voidably, I still failed to jump a deer until I left 

 the ridge and started toward a ' ' draw ' ' in which 



