weeks the law will be off and then it will be bad for the
first buck I meet. Chris says it's good for me to see a lot
of deer before I shoot at any. He says I won't be so likely
to miss or only wound them when I really hunt them. I guess
he's about right, for when I first saw a deer--it was a big
buck and only twenty yards away--I had a regular attack of
buck ague and I couldn't have hit the side of a house even if
I'd been inside it. Now I can look at one, point a stick at
him and say _bang_, with my nerves just as quiet as if it
were a cow. I have seen a few bears, but they are very shy.
We'll turn loose on them, too, when we get round to hunting,
but in the mean time we are sticking to our timber job for
all there is in it.

An old alligator hunter is camping beside us to-night. He is
bound for Boat Landing, with a lot of alligator hides and
otter skins, and I am finishing up this letter to send by
him. Just as soon as this surveying business is over I am
going to have a glorious hunt. If only you were here we would
start out by our lonesomes and have all the adventures we
ever talked about. Probably Chris will go with me. I haven't
quite the pluck to try it alone, as I know you would do in my
place. I may brace up to it, though. Dad has given me
permission to do just as I please. He says he trusts me not
to be foolish or foolhardy and to keep him informed of my
plans. Isn't he a good Dad? Come if you can. Come when you
can.

Always and forever your chum,