ted in among the lilies, and were out of sight in an instant. But
the boys had kept their eyes open, and knew about where to look for
them; and, after half an hour's chase, they succeeded in securing
three of them with the dip-net.

After tying them up in their caps, Frank pulled leisurely along out of
the bay, and was just entering the lake, when Archie, who was
steering, suddenly turned the boat toward the shore, and said, in a
scarcely audible whisper,

"A deer--a deer! sure as I live!"

Frank looked in the direction his cousin indicated, and saw a large
buck standing in the edge of the water, not twenty rods from them.
Luckily he had not heard their approach, and Frank drew the boat
closer under the point, to watch his motions.

They were a good deal excited, and Archie's hand trembled like a leaf,
as he reached for his gun.

Another lucky circumstance was, that the dogs had not discovered him.
Brave and Hunter could have been kept quiet, but Lightfoot was not
sufficiently trained to be trusted.

The boys determined to make an effort to capture him; he would make a
splendid addition to their museum. Besides, they had never killed a
deer, and now the opportunity was fairly before them. But the question
was how to proceed. The buck was out of range of their shot-guns, and
they knew it would be worse than useless to fire at him; so they
concluded to lie still in the boat, and await the movements of the
game.

The buck was standing in the water, up to his knees, deliberately
cropping the leaves of the lilies, and now and then gazing toward the
opposite shore, as if he were meditating upon something. At length he
appeared to have decided upon his course, for he waded deeper into the
water, and swam boldly out into the lake.

This was exactly what the boys had wished for; and, when the buck had
made about ten rods from the shore, Archie took his seat at the oars,
and pulled the boat silently out from behind the point. The moment
they entered the lake, Lightfoot discovered the game, and uttered a
loud bark. The buck heard it, and his first impulse was to turn and
regain the shore he had just left. But Archie gave way on the oars
manfully, and succeeded in intercepting him; and the buck, finding
himself fairly cut off, uttered a loud snort, and, seeming to
understand that his only chance for escape was straight ahead, he
settled himself down in the water, and struck out again for the
opposite shore.

The dogs n