The open ice was, of course, a hard test, and the hunter might
have failed, but that his long form looked like one of the logs
that were lying about half stranded or frozen in the stream.
Watching ever the alert head and tail, he timed his approach,
working hard and moving East when the head was down; but when
warned by a tail-jerk he turned to a log nor moved a muscle. Once
the ice was crossed, the danger of being seen was less, but of
being smelt was greater, for the deer was moving about, and
Quonab watched the smoke from the cabin for knowledge of the
wind. So he came within fifty yards, and the buck, still sniffing
along and eagerly champing the few red cranberries it found above
the frozen moss, was working toward a somewhat higher cover. The
herbage was now fully eighteen inches high, and Quonab moved a
little faster. The buck found a large patch of berries under a
tussock and dropped on its knees to pick them out, while Quonab
saw the chance and gained ten yards before the tail gave warning.
After so long a feeding-spell, the buck took an extra long
lookout, and then walked toward the timber, whereby the Indian
lost all he had gained.
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