Taking his horse by the bridle, he led him down into a little hollow. Then, piercing the undergrowth, he hastened to a commanding 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 from his gun 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,—more than half a mile, he thought. Evidently they had not seen him. Though 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 was wondering how he should manage to creep near, and get a shot at the shy creatures, when the dog barked.
"That won't do!" he muttered; and, hurrying to silence Lion, he saw a stranger loitering along the prairie road.