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208
Animal Heroes
·
Ernest Thompson Seton
104
As
it
was
a
very
rainy
summer,
the
ground
was
soft
everywhere,
and
the
young
hunter
was
led
to
follow
tracks
that
would
have
defied
an
expert
in
dryer
times.
One
day
he
came
on
piglike
footprints
in
the
woods.
He
followed
them
with
little
difficulty,
for
they
were
new,
and
a
heavy
rain
two
hours
before
had
washed
out
all
other
trails.
After
about
half
a
mile
they
led
him
to
an
open
ravine,
and
as
he
reached
its
brow
he
saw
across
it
a
flash
of
white;
then
his
keen
young
eyes
made
out
the
forms
of
a
Deer
and
a
spotted
Fawn
gazing
at
him
curiously.
Though
on
their
trail
he
was
not
a
little
startled.
He
gazed
at
them
open-mouthed.
The
mother
turned
and
raised
the
danger
flag,
her
white
tail,
and
bounded
lightly
away,
to
be
followed
by
the
youngster,
clearing
low
trunks
with
an
effortless
leap,
or
bending
down
with
catlike
suppleness
when
they
came
to
a
log
upraised
so
that
they
might
pass
below.
He
never
again
got
a
chance
to
shoot
at
them,
though
more
than
once
he
saw
the
same
two
tracks,
or
believed
they
were
the
same,
as
for
some
cause
never
yet
explained,
Deer
were
scarcer
in
that
unbroken
forest
than
they
were
in
later
years
when
clearings
spread
around.
He
never
again
saw
them;
but
he
saw
the
mother
once--he
thought
it
was
the
same--she
was
searching
the
woods
with
her
nose,
trying
the
ground
for
trails;
she
was
nervous
and
anxious,
evidently
seeking.
Thor
remembered
a
trick
that
Corney
had
told
him.
He
gently
stooped,
took
up
a
broad
blade
of
grass,
laid
it
between
the
edges
of
his
thumbs,
then
blowing
through
this
simple
squeaker
he
made
a
short,
shrill
bleat,
a
fair
imitation
of
a
Fawn's
cry
for
the
mother,
and
the
Deer,
though
a
long
way
off,
came
bounding
toward
him.
He
snatched
his
gun,
meaning
to
kill
her,
but
the
movement
caught
her
eye.
She
stopped.
Her
mane
bristled
a
little;
she
sniffed
and
looked
inquiringly
at
him.
Her
big
soft
eyes
touched
his
heart,
held
back
his
hand;
she
took
a
cautious
step
nearer,
got
a
full
whiff
of
her
mortal
enemy,
bounded
behind
a
big
tree
and
away
before
his
merciful
impulse
was
gone.
"Poor
thing,"
said
Thor,
"I
believe
she
has
lost
her
little
one."
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