WILD SPORT IN BRITTANY. 121 



near me, listening attentively to the cry as the hounds' mouths 

 were turned towards us, now suddenly started, and, turning to 

 to me, he said, confidently, " The hounds have changed ; hark ! 

 that's St. Prix's horn sounding ' Le Loup, vrai canard :' he 

 must have viewed a wolf, in spite of the signal given, ' Le 

 Sanglier,' by the other horns." 



He had scarcely spoken when, crossing an open space below 

 us, a gaunt, grey old wolf went lopping along over some stony 

 ground, his both ears pricked well forward, as if he expected 

 foes in front as well as behind, and his stealthy gait betokening 

 intense fear; he of course saw us, but as there were several 

 peasants posted on the opposite side of the glen, he held on 

 straight down the valley, pointing for the great cover below. 

 Our both barrels were raised simultaneously; but before a 

 trigger was touched, either by Keryfan or myself, we saw him 

 stagger forward, and then instantly heard the reports of at least 

 three guns fired at him by peasants lying in ambush within fifty 

 yards of the spot. 



" Bravo ! " shouted Keryfan ; " they've stopped the riot, at 

 all events ; he must be hard hit ; a body-shot or a leg broken 

 for certain : let's after him." 



The hounds were now not a hundred yards from the wolf, 

 rattling on like a storm of hail in his rear ; and it occurred to 

 both of us, if we could but catch another view of the wounded 

 brute and give him his coup-de-grace quickly, we should probably 

 save the leading hounds from a terrible and disastrous encounter. 

 So rushing at once forward, Keryfan diverging towards the river 

 and I still holding to the upper ground, we both managed to 

 view him again as he limped heavily towards the stream and 

 was about to cross it for the opposite shore. This, however, 

 it was not fated he should do : for Keryfan and myself, firing 

 four barrels into him, killed him almost instantaneously. The 

 pack then rushed in, and every hound seizing his mouthful of 



