eBooks Base 2000

The Indian admired the stag which,
like himself, fitted into the forest. He would not have hunted him for
sport, nor at any other time would he have shot him, but food was needed
and Manitou had sent the deer for that purpose. He was not one to oppose
the will of Manitou.
The greatest bowman in the Northern wilderness crouched in the thicket,
and reaching his right hand over his left shoulder, withdrew an arrow,
which he promptly fitted to the string. It was a perfect arrow, made by
the young chief himself, and the two feathers were curved in the right
manner to secure the utmost degree of speed and accuracy. He fitted it
to the string and drew the bow far back, almost to the head of the
shaft. Now he was the hunter only and the spirit of hunting ancestors
for many generations was poured into him. His eye followed the line of
coming flight and he chose the exact spot on the sleek body beneath
which the great heart lay.
The stag, with his head upraised, still pulled at the tender top of a
bush, and the deceitful wind, which blew from him toward Tayoga, brought
no warning.


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