Part 3 (2/2)
”Nor I,” said the young surveyor, with a curious smile
It was the first work of the kind he had undertaken on his own account, and without assistance; for which reason he felt not a little proud of it But he did not tell the oldco a track so little travelled that the marks of wheels looked like dark ruled lines in the half-trodden grass
The pleasant su to a close The peculiar wild scent of the prairie, which see comes on, filled all the air The shadows of the forest were stretching in a vast, uneven belt over suly lireen undulations of the sunlit hills
Jack--for I trust we shall also be entitled to call hi; stopped once or twice for a rabbit on the edge of the woods; and, finally, pulled up sharply, as a prairie-hen shot whirring out, al to his feet and faced about, raising his gun; but before he could take aiht, dropped into the prairie-grass a few rods away
Jack followed on foot, holding his piece ready to fire Knowing the shy habits of the bird, he trahted, hoping to scare her up He also sent his dog coursing about; but Lion, though an intelligent aniround between the hunter's feet, with a startling rush and thunder of wings, the hen rose Up went gun to shoulder But instantly the dog gave chase, and kept so exactly in the line of flight, that Jack durst not fire
”You silly boy's dog!” he said; ”don't you know better than that? You'll get a stray shot soun-barrels in that fashi+on Now go to the horse, and stay”
The dog, who had fancied that he was doing good service, dropped ears and tail at this rebuke, and retired fro the hunt, when all at once a strange spell seemed to come over him It found hi the other behind hi down the lifted leg, and lowering his gun, he stole swiftly back, in a crouching attitude, to his wagon by the woodside
Taking his horse by the bridle, he led hirowth, he hastened to a co position, where, himself hidden by the bushes, he could look off on the prairie
His heart beat fast, and his hand shook, as he drew the bird-shot out of the two barrels of his fowling-piece, reloading one with buck-shot, the other with an ounce ball
All the while his eye kept glancing froun to the shadowy slope of a distant hill, where were two objects which looked like a deer and a fawn feeding
CHAPTER IV
A DEER HUNT, AND HOW IT ENDED
They were a long way off,--ht Evidently they had not seen hih marvellously quick to catch scent or sound, deer have not a fine sense of sight for distant objects
”They have left the covert early, to go out and feed,” thought he ”If not frightened, they will browse around in the hollows there until dark”
He ondering how he should et a shot at the shy creatures, when the dog barked
”That won't do!” he er loitering along the prairie road
Jack stepped out of the bushes into the hollow, and beckoned
”I've sighted a couple of deer that I'o over the hill, you'll scare 'eer--a slender youth in soiled shi+rt-sleeves, carrying a coat on his arm--looked at hi in the cheek, and said,--
”Well! and why shouldn't I scare 'em?”