THE VIRGINIAN DEER 63 



attempted to describe in the first chapter. Here 

 the party separated, two men having previously 

 been landed some miles higher up the lake. 

 Being somewhat limited in our supply of rifles, 

 I had selected a shot-gun, with a view to pursuing 

 ruffled grouse, if any appeared during my long 

 wait. 



" My position was close to the lake. It was 

 a fairly open spot where tall trees had long ago 

 rotted and fallen. This swamp covered about 

 ten acres, and on the north side the ground rose 

 to a considerable height. The place was bounded 

 by a few tall, handsome trees, and it was behind 

 one of these on the south side that I took my 

 stand about thirty-five yards from the thick bush. 



" My companions soon disappeared and I was 

 left alone in perhaps one of the wildest and. most 

 solitary regions in the world. For ten minutes a 

 deathly silence reigned, and my thoughts dwelt 

 upon my line of action in the event of a deer 

 crossing the swamp. My duty was to drive him 

 back to the guns and prevent him taking to the 

 lake. The first awakening to life was the squall 

 of some blue-jays evidently startled by the hunting- 

 party, and I had opportunities of observing their 

 habits closely from my hiding-place. They 



