istance, with his rifle prepared for action. No spectacle is more
impressive than this of pairs of hunters, thus kindling the forest into
a glare. The deer, reposing quietly in his thicket, is awakened by the
approaching cavalcade, and instead of flying from the portentous
brilliance, remains stupidly gazing upon it, as if charmed to the spot.
The animal is betrayed to its doom the gleaming of its fixed and
innocent eyes. This cruel mode of securing a fatal shot, is called in
hunter's phrase, _shining the eyes_.

The two young men reached a corner of the farmer's field at an early
hour in the evening. Young Boone gave the customary signal to his
mounted companion preceding him, to stop, an indication that he had
_shined the eyes_ of a deer. Boone dismounted, and fastened his horse to
a tree. Ascertaining that his rifle was in order, he advanced
cautiously behind a covert of bushes, to reach the right distance for a
shot. The deer is remarkable for the beauty of its eyes when thus
_shined_. The mild brilliance of the two orbs was distinctly visible.
Whether warned by a presentiment, or arrested by a palpitation, and
strange feelings within, at noting a new expression in the blue and dewy
lights that gleamed to his heart, we say not. But the unerring rifle
fell, and a rustling told him that the game had fled. Something
whispered him it was not a _deer_; and yet the fleet step, as the game
bounded away, might easily be mistaken for that of the light-footed
animal. A second thought impelled him to pursue the rapidly retreating
game; and he sprang away in the direction of the sound, leaving his
companion to occupy himself as he might. The fugitive had the advantage
of a considerable advance of him, and apparently a better knowledge of
the localities of the place. But the hunter was perfect in all his field
exercises, and scarcely less fleet footed than a deer; and he gained
rapidly on the object of his pursuit, which advanced a little distance
parallel with the field-fence, and then, as if endowed with the utmost
accomplishment of gymnastics, cleared the fence at a leap. The hunter,
embarrassed with his rifle and accoutrements, was driven to the slow and
humiliating expedient of climbing it. But an outline of the form of the
fugitive, fleeting through the shades in the direction of the house,
assured him that he had mistaken the species of the game. His heart
throbbed from a hundred sensations; and among them an apprehension