p he regained his feet and
got the snow out of his eyes sufficiently to see Pat struggling with the
deer.

As soon as Hal and Sparrer were at a safe distance Pat let go and joined
the others, breathing heavily from his exertions. The deer, freed of
the hateful thing which had clung to his head and been the cause of all
his troubles, turned and with awkward jumps plunged back through the way
he had broken in leaving the yard. Pat warned Walter to keep out of
sight so as not to turn the animal into new difficulties, and presently
they saw him reach the trodden paths of the yard and with a shake of his
beautifully crowned head bound lightly away.

Then while they took stock of damages Upton told his story. "An innocent
babe in the woods," murmured Pat when Walter told how he had removed his
shoes and taken to the deer paths. "If that had been a bull moose now
instead of a buck 'tis loike yer frinds wud be weeping instead av
laughing at ye this very minut."

"That's true, Pat," replied Walter promptly. "It was a foolish thing to
do, and I know it now. As it is you've got the laugh on me--and Hal," he
added slyly. "How about it, Hal?"

"Oh, it's on me too, all right," returned that young gentleman, rubbing
the lump on his head. "I sure thought that brute was right on top of
me."

Pat meanwhile had brought out some stout twine and was making temporary
repairs on the damaged shoes. Beyond some damage to the webbing where
the horns had pierced it the one which had been the cause of the buck's
discomfiture was as good as ever, but the frame of the other had been
badly split by the sharp hoofs of the plunging animal. Bringing the
broken parts together Pat wound them with the twine, and when he had
finished pronounced the shoe fit for the trip back to the cabin, where
he would undertake a more permanent job.

"We won't visit those traps now," said he in spite of Walter's protest
that he could go back while the others went on, and led the way
homeward.

CHAPTER XIII

POACHERS

The behavior of the deer in the yard had puzzled Upton not a little. He
could evolve no theory to account for it. Why at this season of the year
should those two does have appeared so terror stricken at his approach,
and why should the buck have been in such an ugly mood? From all
accounts he had read, and from what Pat had said, he had had good
grounds for expecting the animals to be fairly tame. He put the matter
up to Pat as they tramp