A CHASE. 
241 
village, they had already become rare, and in a brief period later 
they had fled from the country. One of the last of these beauti- 
ful creatures seen in the waters of our lake occasioned a chase 
of much interest, though under very different circumstances from 
those of a regular hunt. A pretty little fawn had been brought 
in very young from the woods, and nursed and petted by a lady 
in the village until it had become as tame as possible. It was 
graceful, as those little creatures always are, and so gentle and 
playful that it became a great favorite, following the different 
members of the family about, caressed by the neighbors, and 
welcome everywhere. One morning, after gambolhng about as 
usual until weary, it threw itself down in the sunshine, at the feet 
of one of its friends, upon the steps of a store. There came 
along a countryman, who for several years had been a hunter 
by pursuit, and Avho still kept several dogs ; one of his hounds 
came to the village with him on this occasion. The dog, as it 
approached the spot where the fawn lay, suddenly stopped ; the 
little animal saw him, and started to its feet. It had lived more 
than half its life among the dogs of the village, and had appar- 
ently lost all fear of them ; but it seemed now to know instinct- 
ively that an enemy was at hand. In an instant a change came 
over it, and the gentleman who related the incident, and who 
was standing by at the moment, observed that he had never in 
his life seen a finer sight than the sudden arousing of instinct in 
that beautiful creature. In a second its whole character and 
appearance seemed changed, all its past habits were forgotten, 
every wild impulse was awake ; its head erect, its nostrils dilated, 
its eye flashing. In another instant, before the spectators had 
thought of the danger, before its friends could secure it, the fawn 
11 
