"Deer?"
"Yes, there are lots of them about lately. I saw three of them this morning out back of the barn at my deer-lick."
"What's that, Captain?"
"A natural deer-lick is a salty spot of ground where deer go to nibble or lick the earth. I made mine, for I have a great fancy for giving pleasure to our elegant and graceful Virginian deer who come down here from our provincial Algonquin Park, which is close by."
"Are there many wild animals there, Captain?"
"Heaps of them—they're protected; except wolves. There's a bounty on their heads of twenty-five dollars."
"I'd love to visit that Park," said the boy.
"You shall—we'll take canoes and go up the Fawn River. There are three portages that will interest you—come on, boy, I see a fresh track that I think is Lammie's."
Dallas tore after him, very much excited about the danger threatening the lamb. He was talking to me quite boastfully. "I'd like to see a bear lay a paw on any lamb when I was near."
I was uneasy. All the horse family hate bears. Even a big cart-horse will turn round when he meets one. I knew that some had lately passed by, and I felt that there might be wolves about too.