So sudden and unlooked for had been the passage of the animal, and so much had he been favoured by the shape of the ground, that before any one of the foresters had time to bring his rifle to his shoulder, it was already beyond the range of a bullet.
"Look out for the wolf!" shouted Abner, shaking his head in vexation, at being a single moment too late.

"A wolf's skin will be no bad gift in a winter's night; ay, yonder the hungry devil comes!" "Hold!" cried Ishmael, knocking up the levelled weapon of his too eager son.

"'Tis not a wolf; but a hound of thorough blood and bottom.

Ha! we have hunters nigh: there ar' two of them!" He was still speaking, when the animals in question came leaping on the track of the deer, striving with noble ardour to outdo each other.
One was an aged dog, whose strength seemed to be sustained purely by generous emulation, and the other a pup, that gambolled even while he pressed most warmly on the chase.

They both ran, however, with clean and powerful leaps, carrying their noses high, like animals of the most keen and subtle scent.