AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 301 



" Well, Til be dad blasted!" shouted the old man, 

 as he jumped up and grasped me by the hand. 

 "Why on earth didn't you say so when you first 

 came in? What did you want to deceive me for? 

 Why did you want to do all that kicking about the 

 hunting being so poor?' ' 



"Oh, I just wanted to have a little fun with 

 you." 



Throughout that evening Pease was one of the 

 happiest men I ever saw. He seemed, and, in fact, 

 said he was, twice as proud to have me, his guest, 

 kill a deer as he would have been to have killed it 

 himself. 



He chatted cheerfully until eleven o'clock before 

 showing any signs of sleepiness. This was about all 

 the game I cared to kill, so I asked Pease to go into 

 the station and get a team to come out and take my 

 meat in. In order to pass the forenoon pleasantly, 

 I took my rifle and started into the woods again. I 

 went at once to the buck I had killed, reaching the 

 carcass shortly after sunrise. I cut down a jack 

 pine, and, trimming off the boughs, made a bed. 

 Then I laid down, took out a book and commenced 

 to read, while waiting for the team and for any deer 

 that might happen along. 



But I had not read half a dozen lines when I 

 heard a slight rustling and cracking in the frozen 

 snow, and, looking in the direction of the noise, I 

 saw a young spike buck walking slowly and deliber- 

 ately down the hill not a hundred yards away. I 

 caught up my express and made a snap shot at him, 

 but in my haste and surprise missed him clear. 

 At the report he stopped, threw up his head and 



