AMATEUR i'HOTO BY C. G. WELLS. 



MIRROR LAKE IN THE ADIRONDACKS. 



ing his orders, and had noticed, what I had 

 entirely overlooked in my excitement, that 

 I had neglected to raise the hammers of my 

 gun. 



It was then nearly noon and I accom- 

 panied Ellsworth back to camp, to partake 

 of a lunch and to gloat over a 200 pound 

 buck that had been brought down by Tay- 

 lor, and a big doe that had fallen before 

 Baker's rifle. After a brief session of jubi- 

 lation I was ordered back to my " watch," 

 but secured a commutation of the sentence 

 and was permitted to accompany Dr. Ross, 

 whose station was on the West side of the 

 lake. Here I sat on a log, while Doc seated 

 himself in the bow of a row-boat that was 

 partly concealed in the overhanging shrub- 

 bery. Soying the corner of Recreation 

 protruding from my pocket, Doc borrowed 

 the magazine and proceeded to peruse its 

 interesting pages. I remonstrated, quot- 

 ing the instructions I had received at the 

 Pug-hole, and argued that if he insisted on 

 reading, I would load up my pipe, for I had 

 been hankering all day for a smoke. 



" Why don't you smoke then you ? " 



was his reply. After that the time passed 

 more pleasantly. A rattle of musketry at 

 the South end of the lake told us another 

 deer had been jumped and we afterward 

 learned that Dave Ross had put 2 bullets 

 through its neck. Our turn came a little 



later, when we heard the dogs coming our 

 way, and a crashing in the forest warned 

 us a deer was heading directly toward us. 

 The noise increased, drew nearer, and with 

 a splash, a large doe sprang into the water 

 not 3 rods from us, and started to swim 

 across the lake in a direction that would 

 bring her squarely in front of us and pre- 

 sent a broadside view. 



" Aim for her head and shoot both barrels 

 when I give the word," whispered Doc, 

 who had promised me a shot. I got ready, 

 not forgetting this time to cock my gun. 

 The deer was about 6 rods distant and I 

 held both barrels steadily on her head when 

 Doc gave the word, at the same time firing 

 his rifle. Bang; bang; bang; went our 3 

 reports. My first barrel had kicked me 

 backward over the log; the second had 

 blown all the foliage from the branches 

 over my head, and still the gun kept on 

 kicking, even after I was through shooting. 

 When I got up, Doc was rowing his boat 

 out to where the deer was floundering in 

 the water and dyeing it red with her blood. 

 She was hauled ashore and I held a post 

 mortem examination, in search of buck- 

 shot. 



It was easy to locate the track of the Doc- 

 tor's rifle ball, which had gone straight 

 through the animal's heart. The head, 

 however, was not exactly riddled with buck 



264 



