cles into which the
small timber of the place might be converted was brought to a sudden
pause by Frank, who laid his hand on his shoulder, and while he pointed
with the butt of his rifle up the ravine, whispered, "Don't you see
anything else up yonder besides trees, Massan?"

The guide looked in the direction indicated, and by an expressive grunt
showed that his eye had fallen on the object referred to by his
companion. It was a deer which stood on an overhanging ledge of rock,
high up the cliffs--so high that it might easily have been mistaken for
a much smaller animal by less practised sportsmen. Below the shelf on
which it stood was a yawning abyss, which rendered any attempt to get
near the animal utterly hopeless.

"What a pity," said Frank, as he crouched behind a projecting rock,
"that it's out of shot! It would take us an hour at least to get behind
it, and there's little chance, I fear, of its waiting for us."

"No chance whatever," replied Massan decidedly. "But he's big enough to
cover from where we stand."

"To cover! Ay, truly, I could point straight at his heart easy enough--
indeed I would think it but slight boasting to say I could cover his eye
from this spot--but the bullet would refuse to go, Massan; it's far
beyond shot."

"Try, sir, try," exclaimed the guide quickly, for as they spoke the deer
moved. "I've been huntin' on the Rocky Mountains afore now, an' I know
that distance cheats you in sich places. It's not so far as you
think--"

He had scarcely finished speaking when Frank's rifle poured forth its
contents. The loud echoes of the crags reverberated as the smoke
floated away to leeward. The next instant the deer sprang with one wild
bound high into the air--over the cliff--and descending with lightning
speed through the dark space, was dashed almost in pieces on the rocks
below.

Massan gave a low chuckle of satisfaction as he walked up to the mangled
animal, and pointing to a small round hole just over its heart, he said,
"The old spot, Mr Frank; ye always hit them there."

Having paid Frank this compliment, Massan bled the animal, which was in
prime condition, with at least two inches of fat on its flanks, and
having placed it on his shoulders, returned with his companion to the
canoe.

While Frank was thus engaged, Stanley had descended towards the shores
of Ungava Bay, which he found to be about twenty-five miles distant from
the encampment beside the spring. He made