Arising above the top of the thicket3 was an object that looked for all the world like a pair of wide-spreading antlers; and on the ground could be dimly seen another object, that greatly resembled a doe lying down.
A person whose eyes were less keen than Oscar’s might have looked toward the top of the ridge a score of times without seeing anything but bushes there; but the young hunter was positive that the deer he had been following were stationed within easy range of him, closely watching all his movements.
Why did he not bolt at once and shoot at 245them? For the reason that he knew that so long as he kept moving, and the animals fancied themselves unobserved, they would remain motionless in their place of concealment5; but the instant he came to a stand-still, they would take the alarm and show him their heels. Besides, he wanted to obtain a better view of them, if he could, to gain a favorable position for a shot, and to make sure that they were really live deer, and not creatures of his imagination.
With these thoughts in his mind, Oscar walked slowly along the trail, keeping his eyes fixed6 upon the shrubbery.
In a few seconds another cluster of bushes shut the doe out of his sight. This seemed to cause her some uneasiness, for she promptly7 arose to her feet and moved nearer to the buck8, so that she could look through the tops of the bushes at the hunter. It was plain that she thought it best to keep her eyes on him.
The buck, at the same time, shifted his own position very slightly, and thus brought himself in front of an opening in the thicket, 246through which Oscar saw that he could obtain a fatal, or at least a disabling shot.
These movements on the part of the game removed all doubts from the mind of the young hunter.
He was looking at live deer, and nothing else.
Still keeping his gaze fixed upon the animals, he moved along the trail about ten yards further; and, when he had taken an extra cartridge9 from his belt, he faced about and walked back, at the same time drawing the rifle to his face.
He kept the weapon directed toward the top of the ridge; and, when the muzzle10 of it came within range of that clear space in the bushes, he pressed the trigger.
An instant afterward11 there was a great commotion12 behind the thicket. A cloud of snow and deep leaves flew into the air, raised by the doe as she bounded high in her tracks and sought safety in flight, and by the hind2 feet of the buck, which, giving one convulsive spring, came crashing through the tops of the bushes, and rolled down the bluff13, landing in a heap 247almost at the feet of the hunter, who jumped quickly to one side to avoid the blows from the sharp little hoofs14 that were flourished so spitefully in the air.
But his struggles did not long continue. He was hard hit; and, by the time Oscar had thrown the empty shell out of his rifle and put in the cartridge he held in his hand, the buck was stone dead.
The report of his gun awoke a thousand echoes, which reverberated15 among the rocks and gorges16 until it seemed as if a dozen answering shots were coming from as many different points of the compass, and fell upon the ears of a man who, carrying his rifle at a trail, moving with long, swinging strides, and keeping his eyes fastened upon the tracks in the snow, was making his way through a dense17 thicket a quarter of a mile distant.
He stopped suddenly when he heard it; and, having made sure of the direction from which the report came, he uttered an exclamation18 indicative of astonishment19 and anger; and, turning short off from the trail, ran at the top of his speed toward the valley.
248Arriving at the edge of the timber, he peeped cautiously through the bushes, and saw Oscar standing20 below him, leaning on his rifle and looking at the prize he had secured.
The hunter either recognized in him somebody against whom he held a grudge21, or else he was enraged22 over the loss of the game he had so long and perseveringly23 followed; for he raised his rifle to his face and pointed24 it at the boy as if he had half a mind to drop him as Oscar had dropped the mule-deer.
It was probable, however, that he had no such intention, for he did not cock his gun. He was only acting25 out in pantomime what he would have been glad to do in reality, if he had not been afraid of the consequences.
Just then Oscar raised his head and set up a shout that once more put the echoes at work among the hills. The sound seemed to startle the concealed26 hunter, for he straightened up quickly and cast suspicious glances behind and on both sides of him, at the same time straining his ears to catch the reply, if any were given.
After looking and listening for two or three 249moments he again brought his rifle to a trail, glided27 away as noiselessly as a spirit, making use of every tree and rock to conceal4 his progress, and presently he was lost to sight in the depths of the woods.
“Who—whoop!” yelled Oscar again, when he thought he had waited long enough for a reply. “Where is Thompson, I wonder? If he can’t hear the call he ought certainly to have heard the report of the gun, and I don’t see why he doesn’t answer it. That was the agreement between us. If we were hunting out of sight of each other he was to reply to my shot, and come to me at once. I’ll try him again.”
Oscar looked around for some mark upon which to exercise his skill, and discovering a white spot on a tree fifty yards away, took a quick aim at it, and had the satisfaction of seeing the centre of the spot disappear.
The echoes answered as before, but the boy heard nothing that sounded like the sharp, whip-like report of Big Thompson’s muzzleloader.
He shouted until he was hoarse28, but no 250reply came back to him save the sound of his own voice thrown back from the cliffs.
“I think I’d better not waste any more time,” said Oscar, after he had waited nearly half an hour for the guide to make his appearance. “If he comes back this way he will, of course, strike my trail, and he is such a runner that it will not take him long to come up with me. Now, the next thing is to find a drag.”
Slinging29 his rifle over his shoulder, Oscar drew his hatchet30 from his belt; and, after a short search among the saplings in front of him, selected one that he thought would answer his purpose.
A few blows with the hatchet brought it to the ground; and, when some of the useless branches had been cut off, the buck was placed upon it—not without a good deal of hard work, however, during which Oscar’s strength was all brought into requisition—and the hunter set out for camp well satisfied with his success.
It was a task of no little difficulty to haul so heavy a burden through the snow, and Oscar was often obliged to stop and rest.
251During every one of these halts he renewed his efforts to attract the attention of his guide by shouting and firing his gun, but still no answer was returned.
Just as it was growing dark he reached the cabin; and, with a sigh of relief, put his rifle in its place, and sat down on one of the stools to take another good look at his prize.
After resting a few moments, he took a tape-line from one of the pockets of his saddle-bags and proceeded to make some measurements.
Here is the entry he made in his diary—or, rather, a portion of it:
I have to-day secured my first specimen31 of the—I don’t know whether to call it Cervus columbianus or Cariacus columbianus, or Cariacus macrotis; for no two authorities I have read agree on that point. If he is a deer at all, he belongs to the family Cervid?, and therefore ought to be called Cervus something. Who knows but I may some day be an authority on these little matters myself? He is a mule-deer; I know that much, and his dimensions are as follows: spread of antlers, fifty inches; fourteen well-developed prongs. Height, five feet four inches from the ground to tip of antlers; at the haunches, three feet eight inches. Length of ears, a fraction over eight inches. Body, round and plump; legs very slender; feet so small that 252they seem greatly disproportioned to the size of the animal. Color of coat a dark gray, tipped with black, changing to yellow and white on the breast and flanks, and to a tawny32 on the legs. Tail, thin and switchy; white at the top, and terminating in a black brush three inches in length. Weight, about two hundred and fifty pounds.
After Oscar had made this entry, and while he was sitting with his elbow on his knee and his chin resting on his hand, looking down at the deer to see if there were any points about him that he had not noted33, he heard footsteps breaking through the crust outside the cabin; and the next moment the door opened, admitting Big Thompson, who carried something slung34 over his shoulder. He stopped on the threshold and uttered an exclamation of astonishment.
“What have you got there?” inquired Oscar.
The guide handed over his bunch of game, consisting of an otter35 and several mink36, for his employer’s inspection37, and turned his attention to the deer, which he examined with considerable interest.
“Ye’ll never get a better one, if ye stay 253here till yer har’s as white as the driven snow,” said he. “’Taint often ye see a black-tail larger’n this yere. An’ I think I heard ye say that ye didn’t know nothin’ ’bout huntin’ big game.”
“And I told you the truth,” replied Oscar. “But I have paid strict attention to everything you said in regard to the habits of the animals found in these hills, and when I go hunting I make use of the information you have given me. I know enough to beat you, don’t I?”
“Looks like it from here,” answered the guide.
“And you had the start of me, too,” continued Oscar. “I followed your trail until I was tired out, and then, happening to recall what you said regarding the habit a mule-deer has of doubling on his trail, I looked toward the top of a bluff a little distance off and there he was. That’s the way I got him. What was the reason you didn’t answer my signals?”
“Look a-here, perfessor,” said the guide, drawing the other stool up on the opposite 254side of the fire and seating himself, “what be ye tryin’ to get through yerself?”
“Nothing at all. I am simply trying to make you understand, that, while you were following the deer, I got the start of you.”
“Whar did ye shoot him?” asked Big Thompson.
“About four miles up the valley. And you were there, too, for I saw your trail.”
“Not much, ye didn’t!” exclaimed the guide, who was very much surprised. “Kase why—I was five miles down the valley.”
“You were?” said Oscar, now beginning to be surprised himself. “Then there’s another hunter about here.”
“Mebbe it was a bar track ye seed?” suggested the guide.
“Don’t you suppose I can tell the print of a moccasin from a bear track?” inquired Oscar. “Of course, you don’t know who he is.”
“In course not; but I’ll find out to-morrer, while yer fixin’ up that black-tail. I allers like to know who my neighbors be. I know this much, howsomever. If this yere valley is git tin’ settled up, it aint no place fur me an’ 255you. Somebody’ll have to be movin’; but it won’t be me an’ the perfessor,” he added to himself.
Oscar laughed outright38. The idea that a hunting ground, covering over three hundred square miles, was too densely39 populated when there were only three hunters in it, amused him.
He did not object to the presence of a third party. On the contrary, if they chanced to meet him, and he proved to be the right sort of man, Oscar would have been in favor of inviting40 him to take up his abode41 in the cabin. He was a professional hunter, or he would not be in the hills at that season of the year, and he would have stories to tell that would help while away the long winter evenings.
Big Thompson had other ideas. He had suspicions also; and, if he had communicated them to Oscar, it is probable that the boy would have thought as he did—that somebody would have to be moving.
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1
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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7
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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8
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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10
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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14
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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15
reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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16
gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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17
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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18
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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perseveringly
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| 坚定地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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27
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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28
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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29
slinging
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| 抛( sling的现在分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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30
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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31
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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35
otter
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| n.水獭 | |
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36
mink
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| n.貂，貂皮 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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40
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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41
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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