176 GLENFALLOCH KOES. 



to it, so, despatching the keeper and retrievers to 

 follow the course of the burn on the low side of the 

 scrub wood, my son and I leisurely scaled the moun- 

 tain for the high passes. We calculated that the 

 keeper would require half an hour before getting 

 to the far end of the wood, and fully an hour must 

 elapse ere he could drive the roes forward to our 

 passes on the near side. These passes were some 

 hundred yards apart, and I was dreamily saunter- 

 ing to mine when I stumbled on the tracks of our 

 game. In a moment I saw they were shirking the 

 wood, and evidently bent on topping the moun- 

 tain, most likely with the intention of regaining 

 their former ground. A more cunning manoeuvre 

 could not have been planned, and had it not been 

 for the tell-tale snow, it would have been com- 

 pletely successful. 



Briskly following up " the spoor " to the first 

 fair look-out, I soon detected the three resting at 

 the high corner of the wood, but without having 

 entered it. They were as yet distant, but their 

 still watchfulness, and the equality of the ground, 

 made it impossible to stalk them. To my surprise 

 and pleasure a low whistle from the adjacent 



