110 THE STILL-HUNTER. 



slightly dazed. Perhaps he has fallen into a doze or 

 into one of those reveries that all animals appear to 

 indulge in at times, and the sudden alarm has turned 

 his head a bit. 



However he is here, and something must be done; 

 and rather promptly, too. A cold shiver descends 

 like a shower-bath upon you, your hand trembles like 

 an aspen leaf, and the sights tremble all over the body 

 of your target as you raise the rifle. Your previous 

 misses; the necessity of making this last chance for 

 to-day count; and, what is worst of all, the thought of 

 the large amount of toothsome tidbits beneath that 

 shiny fur, all these make you tremble still more. 



Put down the rifle and take a second's breathing- 

 space. Precious as time is, there is a stronger prospect 

 of his standing than of your hitting him in your pres- 

 ent state of tremor. 



You cannot wait? Go on, then. But shoot at the 

 lower edge of his body, just where the fore-leg appears 

 to join it. 



Bang ! goes the rifle. The buck gives a sudden start 

 and plunges away through the thickest brush and 

 briers with the speed of a race-horse. 



You had another form of "buck ague," a little dif- 

 ferent from the kind I told you of in the story, but 

 often quite as effective. It is quite common to sup- 

 pose that the " buck ague" does not trouble one after 

 one or two shots. But it is liable to occur for a long 

 time, and you will have to shoot many a deer and 

 miss many another one before you can shoot steadily. 

 Even then you cannot always do it, for a certain 

 amount of tremor is liable to attack any one on a 

 long or very fine shot, especially when very anxious 

 to get something for a vacant larder. I doubt, too, 



