THE DEER HUNT. 



67 



orange thread like a net over many a rank grove of water-plants. 

 The opposite shore was lower than the bank on which we were 

 standing, and the eye took in miles of cane-brake and forest, 

 unbroken by any sign of human labour. 



"Look at those turkey-buzzards, Doctor," said Miss Jackson, 

 pointing to two birds that, with matchless grace, were floating in 

 slow circles high in the air. " I would like to see the view they 

 are taking in at this moment." 



" So would I ; they are eagles in the air, and crows on the 

 ground," replied the Doctor. "They seem never to move their 

 wings, and yet how powerfully they fly, while they watch every 

 motion that is going on in the woods below them." 



"Dinnah's ready, gemens and ladies," called out Pompey 

 Duffield, with a marked accent on the and, while Jackson's horn 

 played the stave of a march that made the dogs howl, and we 

 turned away from the bank to the dinner that was spread out on 

 the grass. There was cold wild turkey, and ham, hot coffee, corn- 

 bread and bacon. It wouldn't have been a Florida dinner without 

 the corn-bread and bacon. 



After dinner came the pipes and a long talk, and then as the 

 sun went down, tracking the woods with his sanguine trail, we 

 packed up our game, one deer to each pony, and, with Pompey 

 Duffield taking the lead, filed off through the shadowy woods 

 for the plantation. 



