The moon was rising over the distant trees when of a sudden Joseph Morris leaped up and reached for his rifle, which he had placed behind the kitchen door, “A deer—down at the end of the clearing, where the brook makes a turn!” he whispered. “If you don’t make a noise perhaps I can bring him down.”
“It’s a long shot,” returned Uriah Risley, who was no marksman at all, measured by the proficiency of the old pioneers. “I can scarcely see the animal.”
“I see him,” put in Dave. “There, he is turning up the brook!”
By this time Joseph Morris had his rifle and was examining the flint-lock. The weapon was in good condition for use, and he tiptoed his way out of the cabin, and crouching low, made for a stump standing fifty feet closer to the brook.
“Let us keep in the shadow,” whispered Dave, who wished to give his uncle all the advantage possible, and the Englishman, his wife, and the boy huddled up in the sheltered doorway. A silence of several minutes followed. Joseph Morris had gained the stump and was on his knees behind it, with his rifle barrel leveled across the top.
“I don’t see the deer anymore,” came in a husky tone from Uriah Risley. “He must have got frightened and run away.”
“No, he is there, behind the brush,” answered Dave. “Hist! here he comes!”
All became silent, and Mrs. Risley breathed hard in anticipation of hearing the rifle go off. Step by step the deer came out of the shadow of the forest until the brookside was gained. For a moment it disappeared, behind some brush, then came into view at the other end. Its head was down and only its back could be seen.
Dave looked at his uncle. Joseph Morris still rested behind the stump as motionless as a statue. Presently he let out a short, sharp, hissing whistle. Instantly the head of the deer came up, and the animal was all attention, staring in the direction from whence the sound had come.
Bang! The shot from the rifle echoed and re-echoed through the night air and across the distant mountain. The deer gave a mighty leap into the air, then fell with a splash into the brook and lay kicking convulsively.