FIRST DEER IN AMERICA. 17 



we must go there. Off again we started, I having 

 come to the determination that the whole thing was a 

 humbug, and that I would slip off the first available 

 opportunity. The desired chance soon offered, and 

 after half an hour's walking I struck the margin of 

 the lake where the canoes had been left. Another I 

 found before me at this rendezvous, which helped much 

 to console me for not being the only deserter. "We 

 had not been long dawdling and attempting to kill 

 time, when some pigeons came down to drink ; so 

 drawing my buck-shot and replacing it with No. 6, 

 I came to the conclusion, as I could not have venison, 

 I would try and procure some of them. Nor was I 

 unsuccessful, for soon half a dozen long tails (the wild 

 pigeons of America have long tails) swelled the volu- 

 minous proportions of my pockets. There is an end to 

 all things, and even pigeons got wary of our proximity, 

 and a second period of inaction followed. However, 

 the scenery was pretty, the foliage brilliant, the tem- 

 perature pleasant, and a hunter might be far less 

 comfortably situated. 



Time was passing rapidly, the sun was fast dipping 

 into the horizon, and consequently our indefatigable 

 friends could not much longer be absent. Thus I 

 thought when Master Redskin jumped suddenly up out 

 of a canoe in which he had been lolling, clapped his 



c 



