f, still remained by his side, "we are rid of poor Seth and his
blundering sportsmanship, and have the coast clear for a shot; which way
would you like to go best--up or down this bank of the river?"

"Down," answered the young engineer promptly. "Seth, `I reckon'--as he
would say himself--will be certain to startle any game on that side long
before he gets near it; and as the deer will probably take to the water
and cross here on their back track to the hills, I may possibly get a
shot at one as they pass."

"Very good," said Mr Rawlings; "please yourself. You go that way, and
I'll go this, and the sooner we separate and each follow his own course,
the better chance of sport we'll have. Only, mind, Wilton, don't you
shoot poor Seth and Sailor Bill at one discharge of your rifle, the same
as you did those three mountain-sheep the other day, eh?"

And Mr Rawlings chuckled as he strolled off up stream with the negro.

"And don't you bring down Jasper under the idea he's a blackbird,"
retorted Ernest Wilton before Mr Rawlings had got out of earshot, as he
started down the river-bank with Wolf following closely at his heels, in
the manner befitting well-trained dogs of high degree like himself.

Then followed a long silence, only broken, as far as each hunter was
concerned, by the rustling of leaves and trampling of twigs as he
pursued his way through the thick undergrowth, pausing every moment to
examine the ground beneath his feet and the thickets he encountered, in
search of deer tracks to and from the water, and giving an occasional
glimpse at the prairie beyond when the trees opened a bit and their
branches lifted enough to afford a view of the surrounding country,
which only happened now and then, as vegetation was vigorous along both
banks of the river.

Mr Rawlings, it may be mentioned before going any further, was
decidedly unlucky in his quest, not catching sight of a single moving
creature, although the fact must be taken into consideration that the
direction he took was somewhat over the same ground that the whole party
had already traversed, and that whatever game might have been in the
vicinity, must have been pretty well nearly scared away before he tried
his sportsman's cunning alone; Ernest Wilton, however, was more
successful.

Shortly after parting from Mr Rawlings and Jasper, as he was creeping
stealthily through the tall prairie-grass that bordered the grove of
fine trees along the bank of the