A BIG BUCK. 93 



ing nearly half-a-mile, I found the familiar tell- 

 tale track. The snow was in pretty good order, 

 both for tracking and walking, and I did not let the 

 grass grow under my feet. As yet I had seen no 

 signs of blood, which the more thoroughly impressed 

 me that my lead had made more than a skin wound. 

 In about an hour's walking, I found myself on the 

 edge of another slough, which I was hesitating 

 whether to enter or go round, when I espied my 

 friend, some way beyond range, going over a neigh- 

 boring swell of the prairie. Of course I cut off 

 the angle and cast forward to where the view was 

 obtained, and as I rose the swell, in the distance 

 I saw my friend at a stand-still, evidently anxiously 

 scrutinizing my direction. My cap was of a very 

 light color, so I concluded he did not see me, and 

 my supposition was again correct, for after a few 

 minutes he relaxed his pace, and turning at right 

 angles, walked into a small expanse of dense rushes, 

 interspersed with an occasional stunted willow. In 

 deer shooting, if you suppose an animal severely 

 wounded, never hurry him; if he once lie down, 

 and you give him time to stiffen, you will not have 

 half the trouble in his ultimate capture that you 

 would have by constantly keeping him on the 



