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RECREATION MAGAZINE 



at the crackle of a twig beneath my 

 foot; but Jack, who has good ears, had 

 certainly whistled. Heldar, being prob- 

 ably afraid of the six-foot drains, had 

 closed in on me. 



"Can you hear anything?" said he. 



I raised my hand to silence him, and 

 caught a low rustling. 



There was no moon, but a soft clear- 

 ness in the western heavens forced up 

 the ragged edge of. the bush, and the 

 stars were shining overhead. Thus one 

 could see a little, and by and by I made 

 out a pale lambent shining amidst the 

 timothy. It appeared in several places 

 and when Heldar jerked his head some 

 of the specks of brightness drew apart 

 in pairs and increased in brilliancy. I 

 glanced in Jack's direction, and saw 

 only a little flame flickering in the air. 

 It would probably have excited human 

 curiosity, and deer of most kinds are 

 inquisitive, while the faint snow-chilled 

 air was moving in the right direction. 

 Then I hoped that Heldar had seen the 

 two pale-green blurrs that approached 

 him and chanced the whisper that might 

 spoil everything : 



"When you're ready," I said. 



The muzzle of his rifle twinkled in 

 the light, and I tightened my grip on 

 my Marlin, for there was one shining 

 spot not far away. There came a sharp 

 concussion, and I brought the butt back, 

 trusting vaguely, as one must do in that 

 game, to sense of direction. The smoke 

 curled about me, and as usual I felt the 

 heel plate, but heard no explosion, only 

 the thud of a fall, and a swift rustle 

 that changed to sharp crackle. It was 

 evident that somebody had dropped his 

 deer, and the rest were sweeping 

 through the forest. Then Heldar, un- 

 hooking the lamp from his hat, walked 

 forward, and when I joined him was 

 stooping over something that moved 

 feebly amidst the grass. 



"Mine, I think," he said, and neither 

 Jack nor I could gainsay him. For a 

 novice he had done astonishingly well. 

 Deer are opened up straightway in 

 that country, and for several unpleasant 

 minutes we were busy, though Heldar 



did not assist us. The task is not a nice 

 one in daylight, and worse at night, but 

 it was pleasant in comparison with one 

 that followed, and presently, after argu- 

 ing as to who should pack the carcass 

 upon his shoulders, we set off for a de- 

 serted shanty. The load was light, but 

 one must get the beast's forelegs round 

 his neck, and there are one or two un- 

 pleasant accompaniments. We sat and 

 smoked amidst the mosquitoes in the 

 shanty for several hours, during which 

 Heldar rubbed himself continually and 

 hoped that the deer might return to the 

 swamp; for Heldar would have waited 

 months for a wapiti. At last, when an 

 increasing chill swept through us, we 

 made another move. 



The swamp was very dark now, and 

 this time I fell into a drain, where my 

 rifle stayed until next day. We had 

 not, however, blundered about it long, 

 when, somewhat to my astonishment, 

 our efforts were rewarded, for just as 

 Jack and Heldar crawled through a belt 

 of grass two eyes became distinctly vis- 

 ible. They were bigger and higher 

 than those of the wood deer, but their 

 fixed stare did not suggest those of a 

 wapiti. Neither were they those of a 

 panther, for I had once or twice seen 

 the eyes of a panther watching me, and 

 considered it advisable to vacate the vi- 

 cinity. Having no rifle, I lay still and 

 caught a half-audible colloquy: 



"Great favor — first chance." 



This was from Heldar, and the glis- 

 tening eyes did not vanish, which was 

 suspicious, for Jack's answer was au- 

 dible — "Go ahead." 



I saw the fore-end of Heldar's rifle, 

 and heard his voice : 



"Must be a wapiti. It's very big." 



"You'll be too late in a second," said 

 Jack. 



It appeared big enough for an ele- 

 phant to me, but just then the chalked 

 foresight tilted upward, and there was 

 a stream of red sparks. The woods 

 flung back the concussion, and through 

 it came a curious roar and rush. I 

 could see a vague black object coming 

 straight for us. 



