THE STILL HUNT. 81 



With the report of my gun the frightened animal sprang into the 

 air as though he had been blown up by a mine, and then dashed 

 off into the woods. He flew over the hills, and just as I had given 

 him up for lost I heard the clear ring of a rifle in the direction he 

 had gone. It was Mike's ; I knew its voice. What a load fell off 

 my mind — the deer was ours ! 



On reaching the place from whence the shot came, I found 

 Mike loading his rifle, and the deer with his antlers ploughed into 

 the ground by the force of his running fall, and his throat cut. 

 On looking for my shot I readily found it in the breast, and the 

 ball had gone through the thick part of the neck without doing 

 much damage. Mike's had struck him in the head. 



Selecting two small trees that grew from the same root, we 

 lifted our quarry up until his horns caught in the angle, and his 

 body hung down with his back to the tree. Mike then cut the 

 skin in a line from the throat to the tail, and also a transverse 

 line down each foreleg, and drew the entrails. Then loosening the 

 neck from the skin, he cut the neck from the head at the first 

 joint, and pulled the fore shoulders directly out of the skin. Then 

 cutting off the fore shoulders, the loin and the hind-quarters were 

 left hanging by the horns. The shoulders were thrown aside, 

 while the hind-quarters were neatly rolled in the skin with the 

 branching horns, and hung on a sapling to await the time of our 

 return at night. 



Our original plan had been to drive the deer from off the 

 meadows with the dog, we standing at the runways, thus getting 

 very fair shots on the open plain, but by reason of the advanced 

 hour of the day it seemed doubtful if this plan would succeed ; 

 however, we resolved to try it. Selecting two paths, apparently 

 much frequented by the deer, and in some places worn into 

 channels, we sent Yowler off to hunt. The old dog seemed to 

 know his duty well, for he hied away with a look at his master, 

 and we could occasionally see him, where the grass was thin, 

 making long casts, and occasionally his mellow voice would be 

 borne in faint from the distance. 



Mike was stationed not far away, and looking across the grass 

 I could see him leaning against a tree surveying the scene before 



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