THE STILL HUNT. 91 



moment, to my great discomfiture he tamed his face toward me, 

 and then commenced eating again. This was a state of affairs that 

 I had not anticipated, for it shut me out from a view of that 

 barometer tail. However, I calculated the time' during which he 

 would probably feed, and made a short advance. The deer now 

 turned quarteringly toward me, and, taking advantage of this 

 change, with my eye fixed upon him, I was hastily advancing, 

 when something disturbed the animal before his usual time. I 

 laid down flat on the grass, with my rifle before me, as the buck, 

 now within shot, raised his crowned head, and took a long and 

 deliberate survey of the ground. There seemed to be some latent 

 suspicion in his mind, for, though not seeing me, he yet looked all 

 around him several times, and then over me, and finally com- 

 menced walking directly toward me. I slowly elevated my rifle 

 on my left hand, my elbow all the while on the ground. The piece 

 reached its level — my heart beat as though it was tugging with the 

 blood that flowed through it — the deer was at a close shot, and all 

 the time coming nearer, yet I could not aim correctly. Still on he 

 came toward me, his ears turned back and forth, his head stretch- 

 ing forward, his nose dilating as he snuffed the air, and his eyes 

 seeming to look me through. I summoned my courage, and held 

 my breath ; every sense seemed to pause while I sighted for the 

 white breast not forty yards off. Dear me ! the gun was not 

 cocked. A pause was required for this, and I became more 

 nervous than ever. I aimed again. A brief instant — it seemed 

 an age between my pulling the trigger and the discharge of the 

 piece — when the clear crack of the rifle sounded, and the deer, 

 wheeling around, flew away " as if the wolves of the Apennines 

 were all upon his track." 



I looked around for Mike ; there he lay in the weeds, and on 

 the end of his ramrod he had been waving a little red rag that had 

 attracted the attention of the buck, and lured him on to his 

 dangerous position. I saw the deer for a mile down the open 

 woods flitting past the trees, and I knew I had made a clear miss. 

 On coming up to Mike his dry smile glowed in the corners of his 

 eye as he asked me, " Did yer hit him ? " 



Without answering the question, I asked him why he did not 



