reflection, he said,--

"You may ride mine. Then, if you don't want a share of the game, I'll
pay you for your trouble."

The strange youth took time to shift his quid and balance it; then
replied in a manner which appeared provokingly cool to the fiery Jack,--

"I'll look at him. Does he ride easy?"

"Yes. Hurry!"

Jack ran down to the horse, led him into the bushes, where the wagon
could be left concealed, and had already taken him out of the shafts,
before the stranger came lounging to the spot.

"Pull off the harness," said the latter, with the easy air of ordering a
nag at a stable. "And give me that blanket out of the buggy. I don't
ride bareback for nobody." And he spat reckless tobacco-juice.

Jack complied, though angry at the fellow for being so dilatory and
fastidious at such a time. The strange youth then spread his coat over
the blanket, laid his right hand on it, and his left on bridle and mane,
and with a leap from the ground threw himself astride the horse,--a
display of agility which took Jack by surprise.

"I see you have been on horseback before!"

"Never in my life," said the stranger, with a gleam in his dark eyes
which belied his words. And now Jack noticed that he had a little switch
in his hand.

"He won't need urging. Be sure and ride well beyond that highest hill
before you turn; and then come quietly around, so as not to frighten the
deer too much."

The fellow laughed. "I've seen a deer before to-day!" And, clapping
heels to the horse's sides, he dashed through the bushes.

Jack followed a little way, and from his ambush saw him come out of the
undergrowth, strike across the prairie, and disappear around the range
of hills.

[Illustration: JACK AND THE STRANGE YOUTH.]

The deer were still in sight, stopping occasionally to feed, and then,
with heads in air, moving a few paces along the slope. Jack waited with
breathless anxiety to see his horseman emerge from among the hills
beyond. Several minutes elapsed; then, though no horseman appeared, the
old deer, startled by sound or scent of the enemy, threw high her head,
and began to leap, with graceful, undulating movements, along the
hillside.

The fawn darted after her, and for a minute they were hidden from view
in a hollow. The stratagem had so far succeeded. They had started toward
the woods.

Jack, in an ague of agitation, waited for the game to show itself again,
and, by its movements, guide his own. At length the faw