Raymond Was Soon Out Of His Saddle, But Before He Could Fire,
The Animal Was Full Two Hundred Yards Distant.
The ball struck its
mark, though much too low for mortal effect.
The elk, however,
wheeled in its flight, and ran at full speed among the trees, nearly
at right angles to his former course. I fired and broke his
shoulder; still he moved on, limping down into the neighboring woody
hollow, whither the young Indian followed and killed him. When we
reached the spot we discovered him to be no elk, but a black-tailed
deer, an animal nearly twice the size of the common deer, and quite
unknown to the East. We began to cut him up; the reports of the
rifles had reached the ears of the Indians, and before our task was
finished several of them came to the spot. Leaving the hide of the
deer to the Hail-Storm, we hung as much of the meat as we wanted
behind our saddles, left the rest to the Indians, and resumed our
journey. Meanwhile the village was on its way, and had gone so far
that to get in advance of it was impossible. Therefore we directed
our course so as to strike its line of march at the nearest point.
In a short time, through the dark trunks of the pines, we could see
the figures of the Indians as they passed. Once more we were among
them. They were moving with even more than their usual
precipitation, crowded close together in a narrow pass between rocks
and old pine trees.
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