“I’ll wait, then, so as to give him a chance of getting within shot as well. It will steady my hand, too.”
“What’s that?” whispered Steve, as a sound like one stone being thrown against another reached his ear.
The captain reached forward again, and uttered an exclamation which brought Steve close up just in time to see the four deer bounding away, and to have his ears half deafened by the report of the piece, for the captain fired directly.
“Gone! Lost them!” he cried, as the deer tore on.
“Fire again.”
“With small shot?” said the captain. “No use, my lad. And I should have been so glad to have got a brace of these deer. It would have been such a good change for the men.”
“Hooray!” shouted Steve. “One’s down!” For all at once the foremost of the deer stopped short, then staggered on a few yards, stopped again, and fell.
At that moment a rifle shot rang out from their left, and the last of the flying deer pitched headlong amongst the stones and lay kicking.
“Well done, doctor! and a very long shot, too! Ahoy, Johannes! Jakobsen!” he shouted as he placed a fresh cartridge in his gun. Then, as the men came up, “There you are! We’ll get back to the boat with the fresh provisions. What shall you do, cut them up here?”
“No, sir; tie their legs, and carry them on the lance-poles. We are enough to manage them.”