as ready for fighting or love-making, as ever, and not one whit subdued
by the disaster of the year before. And so one day he had another battle
with another buck, while another doe--or perhaps the same one--made off
through the trees and left a fragrant trail behind her. He and his
adversary went at each other in the usual way, and for some time it
seemed unlikely that either of them could ever do anything more than
tire the other out by hard pushing. There was little danger that their
antlers would get locked this time, with one pair so badly mismated; and
it bade fair to be a very ordinary, every-day sort of a fight. But by
and by our Buck saw his opportunity. The enemy exposed his left side, in
an unguarded moment, and before he could recover himself that deformed
antler had dealt him a terrible thrust. If the force of the blow had
been divided among five tines it would probably have had but little
effect, but the single straight spike was as good as a sword or a
bayonet, and it won the day. The deer with the perfect antlers was not
only vanquished, but killed; and the victor was off on the trail of the
doe.

And so our friend became the champion of the Glimmerglass, and in all
the woods there was not a buck that could stand against him.

But his brother deer were not his only enemies. With the opening of the
hunting season those farmers from lower Michigan came again, and day
after day they beat the woods in search of game. This time, however, the
Buck did not leave, or at least he did not go very far. For the last
month he had been fighting everyone who would fight back, and perhaps
his many easy victories had made him reckless. At any rate he was bolder
than usual, and all through the season he stayed within a few miles of
the Glimmerglass.

The farmers had decidedly poor luck, and after hunting for two or three
weeks without a single taste of venison they began to feel desperate.
Finally, they secured the help of a trapper who owned a big English
foxhound. Hunting with dogs was against the law, and at home they
claimed to be very law-abiding citizens, but they had to have a deer, no
matter what happened.

The morning after the hound's arrival he got onto the trail of a doe and
followed it for hours, until, as a last resort, she made for the
Glimmerglass, jumped into the water, and started to swim across to the
farther shore. The dog's work was done, and he stood on the bank and
watched her go. For a few minu