and the Maritime Provinces. 55 



in the water feeding upon the leaves of aquatic plants, and as he walked 

 about the splashing he made could be heard a considerable distance in the 

 still night air. Slowly and silently we drew near the sound, and in a short 

 time he was plainly visible. 



" What a beauty he was ! how large he seemed as the strong light fell 

 upon him ! Closer and closer did we approach, but he paid no attention 

 to us other than to occasionally look at our light, which, however, he re- 

 garded with as much indifference as he would the rising moon. So stolid 

 did he seem that I had almost begun to regard him as being stupid, but I 

 was soon undeceived, for as I was at the point of raising my rifle he gave 

 a shrill whistle, turned about as quick as a flash, and with three magnifi- 

 cent leaps disappeared in the forest. What caused his flight I could only 

 conjecture. I certainly had made no sound, and the movements of the 

 canoe had been absolutely noiseless. Possibly in our close proximity he 

 had ' winded ' us, or perhaps the vibration of the paddle in the water had 

 been felt by him." 



" Better luck next time," whispered the guide, " you waited a leetle too 

 long." 



" Yes," I replied, " I was not quite quick enough; the next one will 

 not get away, you may be certain." 



" The paddle was again resumed, the canoe following the sinuosities 

 of the shore as it had previously done, and it was not long before we heard 

 another splash in the water ahead of us. Drawing near the sound, we 

 discerned two deer moving around, but as we approached them I discovered 

 that they were a doe and a fawn, and of course declined a shot at them. 



" A little further on we found another female with fawn, and it was 

 not until we had seen at least a dozen of these that we discovered a buck. 

 He was standing on the edge of the shore, his form showing plainly against 

 the thick background of alders, the leaves of which he occasionally cropped 

 and ate. Silently we drifted toward him, the canoe gliding with an almost 

 imperceptible motion ; he stood quietly, but evidently regarded our light 

 with curiosity. At length, when we were, as I judged, near enough to 

 insure a successful shot, I took careful aim and fired. 



" How the report echoed and reverberated among the mountains 

 around us ! Back and forth it rolled, almost like a fusillade, for at least a 

 minute, growing fainter and fainter until it finally died away in the distance. 

 When we reached the buck we found he was quite dead, so quickly and 

 effectually had the bullet done its duty. The hunting knife was now used 

 in its allotted work, and placing our game in the middle of the canoe we 

 resumed our course. Following along the shore, we passed several does 

 and fawns, and two more bucks, but I did not try to shoot either of them, 

 for we had all the venison that could be used. 



