292 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



We dressed the stag- in a few moments, gave the entrails to 

 the hounds, placed the carcass on the limb of a tree, and then 

 resumed our sport. 



The dog's were next sent into a dense fern brake that 

 reached nearly to our necks. They were there about a minute 

 when a simultaneous cry from all startled us, and ere we could 

 recover our wits two does of the white-tailed deer species (C. 

 leucurus) bounded into our midst with such suddenness that 

 before any one thought of shooting them they were twenty 

 yards away. It was then too late, as the shrubbery was so 

 dense that no shot could penetrate it, except by mere accident, 

 and as each person seemed anxious to have some excuse, we 

 contented ourselves by expressing our surprise at the unex- 

 pected appearance of such visitors. 



" We can get them yet, sir," said the half-breed, " for they 

 are white-tailed deer, and after running a short time they will 

 make for the river, and we can get there before them." 



To the river we accordingly ran at our best speed, but that 

 was slow enough, owing to the quantity of fallen timber that 

 strewed the ground, and the tropical luxuriance of the salmon 

 and whortleberries, which were entwined together in thick, 

 tangled masses. We were there, however, and had taken up our 

 posts before the musical chorus of the pack began to approach 

 us. Every eye then peered vigilantly into the gloomy, silent 

 woods, as if they would penetrate the leafy coverts, and all 

 assumed an air that indicated a thorough determination not to 

 be caught napping again. The cry now became loud and 

 clamorous, and so close, that every weapon was held near the 

 shoulder. Bang ! went a gun in the glades, and bang ! went 

 another to my right. These were followed by a joyous " hoo- 

 pee," which indicated that the Nimrods were successful. On 

 arriving on the ground we found both animals dead, and their 

 slayers proudly gazing upon them. Congratulations of all 

 grades, from the cynical to the serio-comic and tragical, were 

 bestowed on them, and these they received as a matter of 

 course, and in a modestly becoming manner. One curious 

 incident about the run was that both animals kept together 

 from the start, for nothing of the sort had ever before come 



