CHAPTER XX.

THE CHASE ON THE ISLAND—­THE CHASE IN THE LAKE—­THE BEAR—­GAMBLING FOR GLORY—­ANECDOTE OF NOAH AND THE GENTLEMAN WHO OFFERED TO OFFICIATE AS PILOT ON BOARD THE ARK.

We had as yet had no use for our dogs since we left the Saranac.  They had travelled quietly with us as we moved from place to place, or stayed inactive at the tents while we remained stationary.  The game was so abundant, that the real difficulty was to restrain ourselves from destroying more than was needful for our use.  We had indeed, failed to live strictly up to the law we had imposed upon ourselves, for we had at all times trout and venison beyond our present wants, excusing ourselves on the ground that an excess of supply was always preferable to a scant commissariat.  More than one deer was slaughtered, if the truth must be told, for no better reason than that given by an Irishman for smashing a bald head he chanced to see at a window:  it presented a mark too tempting to be resisted the lake from our camping ground.  We stationed two of our boats between the island and the shore nearest the main land, and the other on the opposite side, and sent Cullen upon the island to beat for game.  It was scarcely five minutes, before the voices of the dogs broke upon the stillness of the morning, in a simultaneous and fierce cry, as if they had started the game suddenly, and fresh from his lair.  Away they went in full cry across the island, the deer sweeping around the upper end, and returning on the opposite side, as if loth to take to the water; but true to their instincts, the hounds followed, making the hills and the old woods ring again with the music of their voices.  Presently, a noble buck broke cover, directly opposite to where the Doctor and Smith’s boat lay.  As our object was rather to enjoy the music of the chase, than to capture the deer, they shouted and hallooed as he entered the water, and he wheeled back, and went tearing in huge affright through the woods, up the island again.  Still the howling was upon his trail, and as he approached the upper end, he again took to the water, to be frightened back by Martin and myself, and with renewed energy he bounded across to a point stretching out into the lake on the opposite side.  Here Spalding and Wood were stationed, and they, by their shouting, drove him back again to the thickets.  By this time, the poor animal began to appreciate the full peril of his position, for turn where he would he found an enemy in front, while the cry of his pursuers followed him like his destiny.  Thus far every effort to escape by taking to the water had failed, and he seemed to think, as Martin expressed it, that “day was breaking.”  He essayed it again on the land side, and was driven back by us, and thus he coursed three times round the island, until, in desperation, he plunged into the broad lake and struck boldly out for the opposite shore, three quarters of a mile distant.  Spalding shouted to