128 PRAIRIE AND FORE&T. 



to commence the chase. Never did oarsman more ener- 

 getically pull never did race-horse more gallantly strug- 

 gle ; every thew, every muscle was brought into play, and 

 what I lacked in skill was made up in vim. It, however, 

 took all the dusky gentleman's skill to keep the craft's head 

 straight. For many minutes we did not appear to have 

 gained an inch ; the perspiration ran down my face, and 

 even lodged in my eyes ; but there was no time for rest, no 

 desire for respite ; each succeeding stroke equaled its pred- 

 ecessor in strength. At length we commenced gaining 

 a further inducement to renewed exertion and the paddle 

 was dipped deeper, and handled still more swiftly. Inch 

 by inch we crept up, at first slowly, then more rapidly, till 

 but twenty yards severed the victim and the destroyer. I 

 was about to drop my paddle and seize my gun, when Mas- 

 ter Redskin informed me, " Not time yet !" On we ad- 

 vanced ; ten feet at most intervened. Mr. Chippewa gave 

 the desired permission, and as I pitched my gtm to the 

 shoulder he veered the canoe a point or two to the right. 

 A sharp report followed, and the water boiled with the in- 

 effectual efforts of the stricken animal. Quickly the birch- 

 bark was shot up, and just as the deer was disappearing it 

 was grabbed by the ear, and after several ineffectual efforts 

 lifted on board. Know you, reader, that a dead deer will 

 sink; and although I remembered it not at the time of 

 drawing the trigger, my double - barrel was loaded with 

 No. 6, which at that short range, and pointed at the back 

 of the head, almost instantaneously destroyed vitality; and, 

 however easy it may be to lift a heavy body into a boat, 

 it is a different thing to bring a dead deer into a birch 

 canoe. 



On our way to shore we picked up the hound, which 

 was taken on board, and enjoyed himself by licking the 

 blood that trickled from the shot-holes. Feeling fatigued 



