THE COLUMBIA BLACK-TAILED DEER. 125 



and carefully, and though he has seen plenty of fresh signs 

 — made last night and early this morning — he has not yet 

 seen game. Toward noon he crosses a narrow tamarack 

 swamp, and just as he reaches the upland he catches a 

 glimpse of several moving objects. His quick and well- 

 trained eye is able to discern the forms of a buck, a doe, 

 and two fawns, tripping gracefully through the woods at 

 right angles to his course, and nearly two hundred yards 

 away. There is no favorable opportunity for a shot, for 

 only fleeting glimpses of their forms can be seen as they 

 pass through openings between the giant pines and hem- 

 locks. 



Finally the sportsman utters a plaintive "bleat." The 

 game stops; but only the rump of one fawn and the head 

 of the doe can be seen, the rest of their bodies being hid- 

 den by the trees. 



They stand and listen attentively for several minutes — 

 it seems like several hours to the hunter. Finally they 

 turn and take a few steps toward the source of the familiar 

 sound that attracted them. Again they pause, look, and 

 listen. The hunter has meantime seated himself on a log, 

 with his left foot on a branch of the fallen trunk, in order 

 to have an easier position for a shot. This time only faint 

 glimpses of the sides of two of the Deer can be seen, and 

 as the sportsman peers round the trunk of a great fir that 

 stands between him and the game, the doe catches a glimpse 

 of the movement. 



That settles it. There is some mystery in that corner of 

 the woods, for she has both seen and heard. She will now 

 investigate it if it costs her her life. The group moves 

 forward again, and again pauses. Still, they are all so 

 closely covered as to afford no fair shot. The hunter sits 

 motionless; but, despite the fact that he is a veteran, this 

 terrible suspense is telling on him, and his heart is pound- 

 ing at his ribs like a trip-hammer. The Deer make a few 

 more steps toward him, but to save his life he can't yet see 

 a piece of one Of them big enough to shoot at. In his time 

 he has faced Grizzlies, wounded Buffalo bulls, and even 



