FOREST AND STREAM 
851 
Following Through the Woods That Disclosed As the Hunters Proceeded, a View for a Considerable Distance Ahead. 
started off. Bill thereupon took up his rifle and 
followed the white, swaying flour bag at it moved 
off into the woods that, growing more open as 
the hunters proceeded, disclosed a view for a 
considerable distance ahead. The slanting 
shadows of the trees indicated mid-afternoon 
when Steven halted, and as he nervously ran his 
fingers through his thick, curly hair, exclaimed : 
“Tarnation take it! I don’t understand why 
we don’t run across a deer. There’s plenty of 
‘em in the woods, but they don’t appear to be 
hangin’ round where we be. If you ain’t tired 
yet, we’ll foller ’long this ridge a little farther’n 
I was expectin’ to. I Swanny! I’d like to see 
you have one hangin’ before we start for camp.” 
Scarcely ten minutes after this expression of 
anxiety on the part of the guide, he again 
suddenly stopped, raised himself on tip toe to 
take an extended but cautious view down the 
side of the ridge, and then squatting low, stretch¬ 
ed his left arm toward Bill without turning his 
head. The latter stole forward at the silent 
summons, and shaking with excitement stopped 
a little at the rear of the squatting guide. 
“See! Jest by that little cedar,” he whispered 
to Bill, without for a moment shift¬ 
ing his gaze. “Git a bead on him, 
quick!” 
Bill’s vision flashed to the spot in¬ 
dicated, and there stood a live, wild 
deer. Instantly there fell upon him 
that mysterious spell under the influ¬ 
ence of which the mind becomes ob¬ 
livious to the opportunities of the 
occasion, and apparently loses all 
function except that of absorbing, re¬ 
sistless curiosity, while the eyes fix¬ 
edly stare in wondering aston¬ 
ishment. From a strap at his back 
hung a camera, and in his hand he 
held a loaded rifle. There stood 
noble game not seventy-five yards 
away; and yet, with a vacuous 
mind he merely gazed as a young in¬ 
fant gazes at a lighted lamp. 
Those who haunt the wood for 
game will understand these symp¬ 
toms. The malady is well recognized 
as peculiar to the greenhorn. From 
the days of Nimrod the Mighty to Roosevelt the 
Strenuous there have been many sufferers from 
“buck fever.” An attack commonly ends as soon 
as the object that produced it disappears from the 
view of the staring eyes; but before that stage 
was reached in Bill’s case, there came this antipy¬ 
retic from the restless Steve who, without turn¬ 
ing his head, disgustedly hissed from the corner 
of his mouth: 
“What in thunder ails you? Why don’t you 
shoot? You’ll never git a better chance.” 
This stinging remedy stirred Bill’s sodden brain 
like the roar of a cannon firecracker. Immedi¬ 
ately a comprehension that he was actually alive 
and that a duty was laid upon him, surged over 
his thickened intellect; but the secondary phase 
of the disease with which he was stricken came 
upon him; and as his flesh trembled and his knees 
knocked together, he managed to gasp out this in¬ 
telligent inquiry: 
“Wha-Wha-Wha-er-er-er-a-a-a- ?” 
When Steve first directed Bill’s attention to the 
deer, it stood nearly facing them, its body as it 
fed being partly protected by the limbs of the 
dwarf cedar against which its right shoulder 
brushed. In Bill’s infantile condition he did not 
notice whether it was a buck or a doe. As he 
gave utterance to his desires in the manner just 
described, the animal moved forward a step and 
raised its head. Even to Bill’s dull comprehen¬ 
sion it was apparent that the movement was one 
of suspicion if not of actual alarm; and he real¬ 
ized that if he were to prove himself a hunter he 
would have to act quickly. Raising his rifle to his 
shoulder as he squatted at Steve’s side, he sighted 
along the barrel; but at which portion of the anat¬ 
omy of the deer to aim, could not decide. At that 
juncture a second dose of antipyretic was admin¬ 
istered by the exasperated guide : 
“Take him behind the shoulder, quick!” 
The muzzle of the rifle wandered in eccentric 
curves from the ground to ten feet up the 
dwarfed cedar, as he endeavored to place the 
sights on the spot Steve indicated. Once, he low¬ 
ered it to assure himself that the deer was still 
there. Glancing at Steve he noticed the nervous 
play of the fingers on the trigger of his rifle, and 
began to suspect that if that deer were to escape 
he might expect a shot behind his own shoulders. 
Again raising his rifle he managed momentarily 
to line the sights on the brown-covered ribs of the 
deer, and with a mighty effort to pull the trigger. 
As the rifle spoke the deer convul¬ 
sively sprang forward, bounded 
obliquely up the ridge, and disap¬ 
peared behind the tops of a spruce 
windfall; but not before Steve with 
astonishing quickness, had sent a bul¬ 
let from his rifle at the bounding ani¬ 
mal. As he darted forward toward 
the butt of the windfall, a brown 
form in deliberate movement became 
vaguely visible beyond the barricade 
of branches, whereupon he roared at 
the bewildered Bill: 
“Pop it to him! Pop it to him! 
Don’t let him git away.” 
Moved by this impetuous injunc¬ 
tion, Bill sent two or three bullets at 
the obscure target, and then sped 
down the hill. Approaching the 
windfall, he met the deer face to 
face as he came round the tangled, 
dead branches, and again was seized 
with an attack of the fever from 
which he had previously suffered; 
