242 
RURAL HOURS. 
was leaping wildly through the street, and the hound in full 
pursuit. The bystanders were eager to save it ; several persons 
instantly followed its track, the friends who had long fed and 
fondled it, calling the name it had hitherto known, but in vain. 
The hunter endeavored to whistle back his dog, but with no 
better success. In half a minute the fawn had turned the first 
comer, dashed onward toward the lake, and thrown itself into 
the water. But if for a moment the startled creatime be- 
lieved itself safe in the cool bosom of the lake, it was soon im- 
deceived ; the hound followed in hot and eager chase, while a 
dozen of the village dogs joined blindly in the pursuit. Quite a 
crowd collected on the bank, men, women, and children, anxious 
for the fate of the little animal knoAvn to them all ; some threw them- 
selves into boats, hoping to intercept the hound before he reached 
his prey ; but the plashing of the oars, the eager voices of the 
men and boys, and the barking of the dogs, must have filled 
the beating heart of the poor fawn with terror and anguish, as 
though every creature on the spot where it had once been ca- 
ressed and fondled had suddenly turned into a deadly foe. It was 
soon seen that tlie little animal Avas directing its course across a bay 
toward the nearest borders of the forest, and immediately the owner 
of the hound crossed the bridge, running at full speed in the same 
direction, hoping to stop his dog as he landed. On the fawn 
SAvam, as it never SAvam before, its delicate head scarcely seen 
above the water, but leaving a disturbed track, which betrayed its 
coui'se alike to anxious friends and fierce enemies. As it approached 
the land, the exciting interest became intense. The hunter Avas 
already on the same line of shore, calling loudly and angrily to his 
dog, but the animal seemed to have quite forgotten his master’s 
