The Van Buren press., 1893-12-16

on low ridge OF hill short distance
ahead. He looked several times and
then called Franklin's attention to the
matter. Sure enough there were the
white deer. There were at least two
dozen of them. and they were beautiful
creatures, formed exactly like all 9TH
ers, except that their legs were little
heavier. They were snow-white and in
such position that the sun, which was
now getting low, struck them with a
CLEAN of opalescent light that brought
them into strong relief against the rug
ged mountains in the background.
1t was pretty good shot to make,
but both men felt that they were equal
to it, and arranged the sights on their
rifles with great care Both shot at
once and the same instant the entire
flock disappeared. Roberts ran to the
ridge and looked over on the other
side, but could see no sign of the deer
They had vanished into thin air, and
he felt peculiar fear that made him
get back to the fire and his friend as
quickly Us possible. 1t was very mys.
terious and night was coming on.
In the morning they went back TO
the camp of the afternoon before and
waited. But it was not long before
they saw the deer on the hilltop grazing
peacefully.
Both men were reluctant about
shooting, but when they pulled their
triggers there was exactly the same
result us on the evening before.
They reached the top of the ridge
and plainly saw the footprints of the
animals. The ridge went up from the
floor Of the valley in gentle, gradual
slope, but when the top was reached it
stopped abruptly and bluff several
feet high went down on the other side
It was now evident that the deer must
have been on the edge Of this bluff, and
the instant the shots were fred jumped
over the side and so disappeared
The men followed the way it seemed
the deer must have gone. They jumped
down the bluff, and there saw clump
of brush and the white mist arising
from it. Both were almost afraid to go
near the brush, but at that moment a
rattling IN it made both men raise their
rifles. The next moment they saw q
wounded white deer jump out and at
tempt to run. They fred and 1t fell
dead. There was nothing supernatural
about that, and the dust that arose
from the bushes explained the cause of
the white mist that had been seen ris-
ing over the hill. Looking down into
the bushes, Roberts said that the brush
grew on a bank and directly below it
was a deep hole, which investigation
showed to be q cave that went deep un-
derground The tracks and broken
brush showed that the deer had gone
in there, and SO disappeared from the
face of the earth.
Both men now thought they had all
the game they could carry off and start
ed inside, but had gone but few steps
when they were called to a halt,
and found that tall old man, only
about half dressed and surrounded by
the herd OF white deer, had bead on
them with q pair OF large-bore re-
volvers. They stopped.
"What do you want here?" asked the
voice behind the revolvers.
Both men were too frightened on &C.
count of the surprise, and had dropped
their rifles on the ground.
''Sit down there" said the voice
again, and Franklin and Roberts did as
they were told.
They had no disposition to argue the
point with the man, as he kept them
covered all the time. He then com
menced to ask them oil sorts of ques-
tions, and the deer stood by as If they
comprehended it all. The old mans
harangue lasted for a long time, but
| finally he said he was certain they were
the two men who had killed two Of the
deer the night before, and now he
would have to- kill them. But he
wouldn't shoot. No; that would be too
good for those who had dared to kill
the pets of the Great White Spirit But
what would he do? That was ques-
tion that trou bled HIM deeply. He
walked up and down, while the deer
followed him closely, and would occa-
sionally bury his face in his hands
At last he seemed to forget the two
men and began to murmur some mar
ticulate words. Both of his captives
now began to see way out of the fix,
as it became apparent the man was a
sort of maniac.
| Watching their chance, they grabbed
their rifles when his back was turned,
and when he faced them he found him
self gazing into the muzzles of couple
of Winchesters. The poor creature
howled in agony and begged for his
life. The men took his revolvers and
then attempted to find out who he was
But he would not say much, except
that he had been there for many years
and was a servant of the great white
spirit
Franklin and Roberts were standing
| with tt cir backs to the entrance and
had lowered their rifles now that the
only man was unarmed. Their ques-
tioning was becoming tiresome when
suddenly the old man made q move
with his arms, and before the hunters
could realize what had happened the
entire herd of deer had jumped toward
them and knocked them down and be-
gan running out of the cave, tramping
on them as if they were so much dirt
1t all happened so quickly and the
shock was SO great they were stunned
for moment
When the tramping ceased the men
jumped up and found they were alone
In the cave. Both were considerably
bruised. but managed to get to the en-
trance in time to see the herd vanish,
ing over a hill q few hundred yards
awav. Whether the old man was with