etty
current, occasionally splashing into the stream. Here and there, the
print of a foot on the soil satisfied him he was in the right path. At
length he became aware, from the crumbling soil, that the object of his
pursuit had scaled the bank, and he forthwith moderated his pace.
Halting, he perceived what he took to be a face peeping at him from
behind a knot of alders that overhung the steep and shelving bank
immediately above him. His gun was instantly at his shoulder.

"Come down, you infernal deer-stealing scoundrel," cried Hugh, "or I'll
blow you to shivers."

No answer was returned: expostulation was vain; and, fearful of placing
himself at a disadvantage if he attempted to scale the bank, Hugh fired
without further parley. The sharp discharge rolled in echoes down the
ravine, and a pheasant, scared by the sound, answered the challenge from
a neighboring tree. Hugh was an unerring marksman, and on this occasion
his aim had been steadily taken. The result was not precisely such as he
had anticipated. A fur cap, shaken by the shot from the bough on which
it hung, came rolling down the bank, proclaiming the _ruse_ that had
been practised upon the keeper. Little time was allowed him for
reflection. Before he could reload, he felt himself collared by the iron
arm of Luke.

Hugh Badger was a man of great personal strength--square-set,
bandy-legged, with a prodigious width of chest, and a frame like a
Hercules, and, energetic as was Luke's assault, he maintained his ground
without flinching. The struggle was desperate. Luke was of slighter
proportion, though exceeding the keeper in stature by the head and
shoulders. This superiority availed him little. It was rather a
disadvantage in the conflict that ensued. The gripe fastened upon
Hugh's throat was like that of a clenched vice. But Luke might as well
have grappled the neck of a bull, as that of the stalwart keeper.
Defending himself with his hobnail boots, with which he inflicted
several severe blows upon Luke's shins, and struggling vehemently, Hugh
succeeded in extricating himself from his throttling grasp; he then
closed with his foe, and they were locked together, like a couple of
bears at play. Straining, tugging, and practising every sleight and
stratagem coming within the scope of feet, knees, and thighs--now
tripping, now jerking, now advancing, now retreating, they continued the
strife, but all with doubtful result. Victory, at length, seemed to
declare