ike lariats, to the stern of a couple of canoes and
towed through the water to the shore. Alec and his wet comrades went
with them, and at a great fire built up on the beach soon dried
themselves, and were none the worse for their involuntary swim.

For a time the great deer that had come off so victorious was left
swimming around in his glory, none seeming to care to get into close
quarters with him. Sam, however, was of a different mind, and was eager
for a round with him. Of course it would not have been difficult to
shoot him, but, as has been stated, the Indians think there is no honour
or skill in shooting a deer in the water, where he cannot swim as fast
as they can paddle their canoes. So they were just holding back in each
canoe and waiting for some one else to tackle the big fellow.

When Sam told the Indians in his canoe that he wished they would attack
him they admired his courage and grit, and one of them, with a bit of a
twinkle in his eye, asked:

"You able to swim as well as Alec?"

"Yes, indeed," he replied; "but there will be no need for my trying."

"How you want to kill him?" asked another Indian.

Sam's quick rejoinder was: "I want to spear him, of course."

His enthusiasm was contagious, and the Indians said:

"All right; we will try."

So word was signalled to the other boats that the one in which Sam was
would try the gallant old fellow. The Indians in the other canoes heard
this with pleasure, and ceased for a time from their pursuits to see the
struggle.

The Indians in charge of Sam's canoe wisely explained to him how, if
they were possibly able to get him alongside of the deer, to try to
spear him across the spinal column as near the head as possible. They
also took the precaution to have a couple of guns and axes handy where,
in case of emergency, they could be instantly utilised.

When the great reindeer saw them coming down so boldly toward him he at
once accepted the situation, and leaving a number of deer that with him
had been keeping together for some time he gallantly turned to face
them.

When within twenty or thirty yards, as decided upon by the Indian, they
suddenly veered to the right, and kept paddling in eccentric circles
around him, keeping him as nearly as possible about the same distance in
the centre. That he could not reach the canoe and annihilate it as
easily as he did the other one seemed to very much irritate him, and for
a time he was furious with