78 wiiKia: the sportsman loves to linger. 



Tliore was iLiaiiic in i)l('iily, and all ni^lit louii vou could 

 li'.^ar the "IjIow" of the deer and the heavv ti-anip of the 

 moose. One of the few noises <len(>linu the [)reseuee of 

 game is the snort of the (h'er throui;li curiosity. This same 

 curiosity lias cost many of them tleii* lives. They are like 

 the horse in the ])asture \\ ho sees some strange object and 

 cannot rest until he finds out v.lial it is. The silent aj)- 

 proachini;- canoe has held oame as if riveted to the ground, 

 they thinkinii' there is no dan.L!:er until the tloatinii object 

 coiiKs nearer, litth' knowini;' that the deadly rilie has them 

 already in ran^e. 



The hunter who has never visited Maine duriiiu the 

 clos<'d season has no i(l( a how tame the uame is. One has 

 no dilhcnlty ucttini;- within a «-on]>l(' of canoe-lengths of 

 deer and moose. They are constantly around the camp, 

 day and nii^ht. It is an awful tem])tation to the avera^i^e 

 s]M)rtsman. One (►f the guides i-emai'ked, ''They seem to 

 know when it is closed season." When ()ctol»ei' comes and 

 the tirin^i*- beuins th(\v awake to [i sad realizalion that it is 

 no lon^i»'er "closed season." 



After breakfast, lea\ ini:- the Indians at home, we took a 

 stroll alonii' the rivei' baid<. The oidy uame we saw that 

 afforded us any kind of a shot was a deer across the riv(T. 

 It was a lonj>- shot, but we scored a hit. KiMurninii- to the 

 cam]), we were soon pachllin^u' to wher(^ Ave thouiiiit we had 

 shot the deer. After a loni>' hunt we were startled in seeiufi^ 

 the deer a hundred yards from where we shot it, dra<i'iiiniLi- 

 its hind parts. It had be(Mi shot in the back, paralyzini; 

 its hind lecjs. We soon put it out of its misery. It is sur- 

 prising that, no matter what the conditions, seldom do 

 game make any noise; there was that animal in awful 

 agony, yet not a sound did it give forth. 



If any reader of this narrative ever takes the West 



