246 
nearly cutting the bucs’s throat. He went 
down backward, all in a heap. Then I 
went with my hunting “knife to finish that 
which the bullet had so nearly done, and 
it was with regret that I drew the blade 
across my victim’s throat. 
Now that my craving was humored, I 
likened myself unto the craven who shoots 
from ambush, to later lament his lack of 
courage. I wished that I might give back 
the life I had taken—not to nurture exist- 
ence, but to shoot for sport’s sake. The 
sound of the shot had reached Emile, who 
soon joined me, and after “drawing” the 
deer, we bound its legs with strips of bark 
from a near-by mosswood, and started for 
camp. 
The guide had guessed the weight of my 
deer at two hundred, but after as many 
yards through the underbrush, we con- 
cluded that we would be justified in adding 
another fifty. We, therefore, left it suspended 
from a limb, blazed a trail and went for 
the necessary assistance from camp. 
In the excitement of our success, we over- 
looked the wounded deer, but later consoled 
ourselves with the thought that it would 
survive the shot, for it had successfully 
eluded us for nearly twenty-four hours. 
The morning of the fourth day found us 
in a new country, in a northeasterly direc- 
tion from the camp. We were in a veritable 
nest of hunters. All had deer, and while 
game was seemingly plentiful, we concluded, 
perhaps wisely, to return to our old territory. 
William, one of our party, was raised in 
a place where the streets have names, the 
houses numbers, and the intersections 
policemen, who, if approached with due 
deference, will condescendingly direct the 
lost to the proper trail. William’s experi- 
ence as a sportsman had been confined to 
hunting deer with a camera in Lincoln 
Park, and it was only natural that he 
should be anxious to find a wild one. 
The fourth day might have passed with- 
out adventure had it not fallen to William’s 
lot to be water carrier, an office to which 
he had been duly elected each evening with 
solemnity and without pronounced opposi- 
tion. William’s rifle always accompanied 
him to the spring, not as a matter of pro- 
tection, but as a precaution in case of a 
chance shot, as he confided... 
RECREATION 
What was afterward described as a 250: 
pound buck preceded William to the 
spring. William opened fire and the deer 
retreated, with William in pursuit. 
The shadows of darkness gathered about 
camp, but the fire blazed not for William. 
The embers of the camp-fire burned low, 
the pipes had been smoked, and we were 
being lulled to sleep by the quiet without. A 
rifle shot, followed a minute later by two 
in succession—a signal, perhaps, from 
William, but a signal from some one, lost. 
Hardly had we reached the dark outside 
the circle of light from our fire before it was 
repeated. We waited and listened, and 
when the signal again sounded it seemed 
but a few hundred yards away. 
We crept cautiously in the direction of 
the shots, the signals meanwhile being 
repeated at intervals of five minutes. We 
shortly reached a half-grown pine that 
stood separate and apart from the timber 
surrounding it, and there was William, 
perched on a limb, alternately burning 
ammunition, and glancing behind him to 
see that a passing bear did not add to his 
discomfort. His chase of the wounded 
buck was not given the credence he seemed 
to think it deserved, and he did not urge 
its acceptance when he found that he was 
lost on the ground from which he had 
gathered firewood the same afternoon. 
A pair of discarded trousers, stuffed for 
the occasion, bore unmistakable evidence 
of the accuracy of William’s aim. 
I have learned that William has since 
surrendered therdéle of tenderfoot for that of 
guide. It is said that experience is the best 
teacher, though the tuition is sometimes 
large—but here is hoping that William’s 
flock will never venture forth without a 
compass. 
It may be one of the frailties of human 
nature to love home, though the domicile 
be temporary and but a bit of canvas 
spread in the wilderness. Our camp had 
become a home to us, and it was with many 
aregret that we loaded our equipment 
into the wagon on the seventh day, and 
turned cityward. 
Every man of the party had a deer to 
his credit, save William, but he was rich in 
the thought of having exceeded the legal 
limit—had he only recovered his game. 
