Jay Fosdick was sinking rapidly, and Mr. Eddy resolved to take the gun and steal away from camp at dawn.  But his conscience smote him, and he finally gave the others a hint of his intention of going in search of game, and of not returning unless successful.  Not a moving creature nor a creeping thing had crossed the trail on their journey thither; but the open country before them, and minor marks well known to hunters, had caught Mr. Eddy’s eye and strengthened his determination.  Mrs. Pike, in dread and fear of the result, threw her arms about Mr. Eddy’s neck and implored him not to leave them, and the others mingled their entreaties and protestations with hers.  In silence he took his gun to go alone.  Then Mary Graves declared that she would keep up with him, and without heeding further opposition the two set out.  A short distance from camp they stopped at a place where a deer had recently lain.

With a thrill of emotion too intense for words, with a prayer in his heart too fervent for utterance, Mr. Eddy turned his tearful eyes toward Mary and saw her weeping like a child.  A moment later, that man and that woman who had once said that they knew not how to pray, were kneeling beside that newly found track pleading in broken accents to the Giver of all life, for a manifestation of His power to save their starving band.  Long restrained tears were still streaming down the cheeks of both, and soothing their anxious hearts as they arose to go in pursuit of the deer.  J.Q.  Thornton says: 

They had not proceeded far before they saw a large buck about eighty yards distant.  Mr. Eddy raised his rifle and for some time tried to bring it to bear upon the deer, but such was his extreme weakness that he could not.  He breathed a little, changed his manner of holding the gun, and made another effort.  Again his weakness prevented him from being able to hold upon it.  He heard a low, suppressed sobbing behind him, and, turning around, saw Mary Graves weeping and in great agitation, her head bowed, and her hands upon her face.  Alarmed lest she should cause the deer to run, Mr. Eddy begged her to be quiet, which she was, after exclaiming, “Oh, I am afraid you will not kill it.”

He brought the gun to his face the third time, and elevated the muzzle above the deer, let it descend until he saw the animal through the sight, when the rifle cracked.  Mary immediately wept aloud, exclaiming, “Oh, merciful God, you have missed it!” Mr. Eddy assured her that he had not; that the rifle was upon it the moment of firing; and that, in addition to this, the animal had dropped its tail between its legs, which this animal always does when wounded.

His belief was speedily confirmed.  The deer ran a short distance, then fell, and the two eager watchers hastened to it as fast as their weakened condition would allow.  Mr. Eddy cut the throat of the expiring beast with his pocket-knife, and he and his companion knelt down and drank the warm blood that flowed from the wound.

The excitement of getting that blessed food, and the strength it imparted, produced a helpful reaction, and enabled them to sit down in peace to rest a while, before attempting to roll their treasure to the tree near-by, where they built a fire and prepared the entrails.