red himself in a few
hours, and seemed none the worse for his adventure. All his former
arrogance, too, had returned, and visitors were careful to keep at a
safe distance. But Ramsay he recognized, apparently, as either protector
or master, and Ramsay could enter the stall at any time. The buck would
sidle off and eye him anxiously, but show no sign of the furious anger
which the visitors excited.

To all inquiries as to what he would do with his captive Ramsay would
answer, "Sell him to circus, maybe." But it was not till several weeks
had passed and the settlement had got over its interest in the matter
that he was able to quite make up his mind. Then, one crisp autumn
morning, when the woods were all yellow and red, he went over to the
next farm and asked his neighbour, a handy young farmer, to come and
help him get the captive aboard a hay-wagon.

"Got a chance to sell him up to the Falls," he vouchsafed in brief
explanation, and the explanation was one to content the whole
settlement.

There was a strenuous hour or two before the indignant animal was roped
and trussed into helplessness. Then the bruised and panting men hoisted
the prisoner into the hay-wagon and tied him so he could not be bounced
off; and Ramsay started on the rough twenty-five mile drive to the
Falls.

About seventeen miles from Ringwaak the road crossed the Ottanoonsis,
whose wild current filled the valley with noise and formed an impassable
northern frontier to the Ringwaak region. It was generally believed that
the wild creatures of the Ringwaak region held little intercourse with
those north of the Ottanoonsis, by reason of that stream's turbulence.
As soon as Ramsay found himself across the bridge he stopped and once
more drew his hunting-knife. At the flash of the blade the captive
looked up wonderingly from his bonds. Leaning over him, the old man's
face broke into a sheepish grin. But he did not hesitate. Three or four
properly distributed strokes of the knife, and the ropes fell apart. The
captive lifted his splendid head, kicked, and struggled to his feet,
bewildered.

"Now," said Ramsay, "Git!"

As he spoke he snapped his long whip sharply. With a magnificent leap
the buck went out and over the wheels and vanished with great sailing
bounds into the wild Ottanoonsis forest. Then Ramsay turned slowly back
toward home, thinking a thrilling story for the settlement about the
cunning escape of the Ringwaak buck.

The Heron i