88 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



went quietly enough; that is, about as quietly as any 

 one could go on such ground. But the ridge was 

 both narrow and low, and it would have been nearly 

 impossible on leaves, and would have been hard enough 

 even on snow, to approach close enough to see him 

 without his hearing your steps. Now the wind would 

 have allowed you to swing around the point of the 

 ridge toward which he was feeding, which would 

 have brought you eighty or ninety yards ahead of 

 him and directly on his course. From that point you 

 could either have shot or have lain and watched his 

 movements, and perhaps have had him feed toward 

 you. Or you might have swung around the other 

 way and have come in behind him. But this course 

 would have been unsafe if the deer were moving at 

 any speed, as it would have brought you in too far 

 behind him, and the deer is such a fast walker that 

 you could not have overtaken him without making 

 too much noise. You might also have waited a while 

 in the flat to advantage. For he either might have 

 appeared on the ridge again or would have had more 

 time to get off the other side or farther along it, so 

 that you could have got in sight of him without his 

 hearing you. As it was, you would have had to get 

 within fifteen or twenty yards of him to see him at 

 all; a thing extremely hard to do even on soft snow. 



Four or five more ridges are crossed, and as you are 

 winding along the back of another one there is a sud- 

 den flash of white among the dark tree-trunks two 

 hundred yards ahead; another second and it flashes 

 again, but more faintly; another dim flash, and it is 

 gone. 



There is no need of desponding, however. You are 

 doing finely. You are making progress enough in 



