IN THE FAR WEST. 237 



was both fast and enduring 1 . After a run of two miles or more I 

 drew along-side his Hank, and placing- my revolver close enough 

 to his back to burn the hair, I fired, and broke his spinal column. 

 He fell headlong- on his antlers, but before he reached the ground 

 I got in another shot in the head, and he tumbled over dead. 

 As he lay outstretched before me, I fairly gloated over him, 

 for he was one of the largest and handsomest stags I ever saw. 



On looking around for my companions I saw several of 

 them pursuing the animals in every direction, while others 

 were dismounted, having evidently been successful in the 

 run. Having marked the position of my victim, I was re- 

 turning to join a group of two or three of my comrades, 

 when I met a hind and her fawn coming towards me 

 in the most unsuspicious manner. I dashed at them, but 

 instead of running up wind they cut across it and headed 

 for a coppice of cottonwoods three or four miles distant. I 

 pursued them at a rattling pace, but my horse being quite 

 pumped I could not get them to break their trot, so the chase 

 continued for a couple of miles, when the hind fell forward sud- 

 denly on her head, as if shot ; but before I could overtake 

 her she was off again. I noticed in a short time that she was 

 running in a peculiar manner, as if one of her legs were 

 injured, yet I could not close the distance between us. After 

 awhile she showed signs of faltering; her pace was becoming 

 unsteady, and the fawn, which had kept by her side all the way 

 shot ahead of her. IVeling assured that she was injured, 1 did 

 not press my horse v.sry hard, as I was hoarding his strength 

 for a final dash. As every step she took seemed to weaken 

 her more, I finally made a spurt, and was beside her in less 

 than ten minutes, and putting my revolver to her head I 

 shot her dead. The fawn broke away in an opposite direction 

 on seeing me close on it, and by this means escaped. On 

 looking at the hind, I saw that one of her fore-legs was 

 broken near the fetlock, the result of stepping into a prairie- 

 dog hole, yet she must have run at least two or three miles 

 more after that accident. 



Having extracted the viscera, I marked her position, and 

 started back to where two men were left with our extra 



