302 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



within thirty yards of where we were standing. I 

 knew that I had had the sight just on the right place for 

 a lung shot when I pulled the trigger, and moreover I 

 felt certain that I had seen a spot of crimson on the 

 buck's grey coat as he dashed past us down the 

 mountain-side. I was therefore rather surprised when 

 Graham said mournfully, "Well, that's a pity." 

 "Why!" I said, "what's the matter? I'm sure the 

 deer 's dead. I hit him square through the lungs, and 

 I don't think he 's very far away now. If I 'm not 

 very much mistaken, he was in his death-rush when 

 he went past us." 



However, Graham did not think so. He said he 

 thought I had hit him, but too high up, and doubted 

 our ever setting eyes on him again. I felt quite con- 

 fident, however, and as soon as we struck the tracks 

 became more confident still, as the great quantity 

 of blood on the snow evidently thrown from the 

 mouth and nostrils of the stricken beast showed 

 plainly enough that he had got the bullet through 

 both lungs. The tremendous bounds he had made 

 were simply astonishing, even when the fact that he 

 was going down a steepish incline was taken into 

 consideration. But he had not gone far, and we 

 found him lying stone dead within a very short dis- 

 tance of where we had last seen him. Graham was 

 delighted, and assured me I had got as good a mule 

 deer head as I was likely to get nowadays in the State 

 of Wyoming, though I might still get bigger, he 

 thought, in Colorado. 



