SOME EARLY EXPERIENCES (CONCLUDED.) 59 



taken with a chill that caused the scaffold to shake, but the chill 

 only lasted for a moment. Soon I heard the animal step in the 

 soft mud and directly it began to suck the salt from the dirt and 

 I was sure that it was a deer and that it was the right time to 

 pull the trigger, which I did. When the report of the gun died 

 away all that I could hear were the same noises that were made 

 when I .knocked the old porcupine from the tree. I now feared 

 that I had pulled the gun on some other animal rather than a deer. 

 I thought the report of the gun would frighten all the deer in the 

 woods, so that no deer would go to the licks the men were watch- 

 ing. I was afraid I would get a terrible scolding by the men who 

 were watching the other licks when they came to camp in the 

 morning. 



After waiting some time and hearing no noise of any kind, 

 I concluded to get down and go to camp. Upon getting down from 

 the tree I decided that I would go and look in the lick and see 

 if I could tell what it was that I had heard there and had shot at. 

 As it was so dark that I could not see from the blind, you can 

 imagine my surprise when I got to the lick to see a large buck 

 deer lying broadside as dead as could be. 



I immediately lost all fear of being scolded by the other men, 

 so I claimed first blood. I began calling for the man who re- 

 mained in camp but could get no answer from him so I went 

 down to camp and found him fast asleep. I awakened him and 

 we immediately made a torch and went to the lick and dragged 

 the deer to camp. Then we took out the entrails and bunked down 

 for the rest of the night 



The next thing that I knew, one of the men who had watched 

 a lick not far away was kicking me and saying, "Get out of this, 

 you old deer slayer, you, and get some venison frying for break- 

 fast." We were soon up for the sun was shining brightly and 

 more than an hour high. Soon the other watchers came in and 

 reported that not a sound of a deer had they heard about their 

 licks. Two or three of us (I say "us" because I was now counted 

 as one of them) went to catch trout for breakfast, while the others 

 were at work taking care of the venison and preparing breakfast, 

 boiling coffee, frying venison and trout. And so the day was 



