268 FORTY-POUR YEARS OP 



much hair torn off, that I could not arrive at any certain 

 conclusion. 



They all went off together, and as the fun fever began 

 to rise high, I started off in a long trot after them, and 

 had gone but a short distance, when my dog wheeled sud- 

 denly to my left, which told me that one was within 

 shooting distance. I viewed the ground, and found that 

 it must be behind a very large fallen tree ; but to see it 

 was impossible. I looked around for a means of raising 

 myself up high enough to see over the log, when I disco- 

 vered a tree which had fallen into the fork of another, and 

 was considerably elevated. I went to it, and crawled up 

 it side-ways, until I saw the horns of an old buck. 



"Well, my fellow," said I, "you are my meat, or I am 

 no judge of shooting." 



Still, thougli I did not see his head, I could see very 

 near to it ; and I thought that if the snow was off the log 

 his head would be a fair mark. So I guessed at his posi- 

 tion, shot at him through the snow, and down fell the 

 horns. I leaped off the tree like a panther, and with one 

 jump was on him, cut his tliroat in the crack of a thumb, 

 and commenced skinning him. If ever I skinned a deer 

 quickly, then was the time ; for the sight of all those deer 

 in one gang had set my pulse up so high for sport, that I 

 thought every minute was an hour ; as I was sure that, if 

 I could only overtake them in good ground, I could kill 

 half a dozen of them before night. 



The buck skinned, I cut off one whole side of the ribs, 

 tied the meat up in the skin, and started off on the trail 

 of the others. 



I had not gone more than half a mile, when, hearing a 

 halloo, I turned round and saw my two sons, who had 

 heard me shoot, and, finding my tracks in the snow, were 

 ill full r''\se to overtake me. 1 could not prevail on them 

 to follow my b'g gang of deer, as they were afraid I 



