A CHASE. 
243 
voice in the pitiless pui'suit. The fawn touched the land — in one 
leap it had crossed the narrow line of beach, and in another in- 
stant it would reach the cover of the woods. The hound fol- 
lowed, true to the scent, aiming at the same spot on the shore ; 
his master, anxious to meet him, had run at full speed, and was 
now coming up at the most critical moment ; would the dog 
hearken to his voice, or could the hunter reach him in time to 
seize and control him ? A shout from the village bank proclaimed 
that the fawn had passed out of sight into the forest ; at the same 
instant, the hound, as he touched the land, felt the hunter's strong- 
arm clutching his neck. The worst was believed to be over ; the 
fawn was leaping up the moimtain-side, and its enemy under re- 
stramt. The other dogs, seeing their leader cowed, were easily- 
managed. A number of persons, men and boys, dispersed them- 
selves through the woods in search of the little creature, but with- 
out success ; they all returned to the village, reporting that the 
animal had not been seen by them. Some persons thought 
that after its fright had passed over it would retui'n of its own 
accord. It had worn a pretty collar, with its owner's name en- 
graved upon it, so that it could easily be known from any other 
fawn that might be straying about the woods. Before many 
hours had passed a hunter presented himself to the lady whose 
pet the httle creature had been, and showing a collar with her 
name on it, said that he had been out in the woods, and saw a 
fawn in the distance ; the httle animal, instead of bounding away 
as he had expected, moved toward him ; he took aim, fired, and 
shot it to the heart. When he found the collar about its neck he 
was very sorry that he had killed it. And so the poor little thing- 
died ; one would have thought thai terrible chase would have 
