ON PLAIN AND PEAK 



fifty yards of us. This is almost the most exciting 

 feature of a chamois-drive the doubt as to whether 

 the chamois that one sees approaching will or will 

 not come within range. 



The two we are watching are continually hidden 

 by the conformation of the ground, and it is with 

 breathless anxiety that we each time await their 

 reappearance. Now they are out of sight again ; 

 when they next come into view they will be within 

 shot, if nothing turns them. The suspense is dread- 

 ful. Did ever a chamois take so long to traverse a 

 couple of hundred yards of ground ? They must 

 have turned up the hill again ! 



No ! The leading one suddenly springs out upon 

 a rock, almost the same place where the other 

 chamois stood, but a little farther off. 



Wechselberger says " Shoot ! " and I do so. 

 Again the chamois has disappeared, and I know not 

 whether hit or missed. My trusty trdger is not 

 sure either ; he thinks it may be hit, he says. 

 There is nothing for it but to possess one's soul 

 in patience ; at the end of the drive we shall 

 know ! 



The beaters are now descending the almost per- 

 pendicular ridge before us. In the distance it looks 

 well-nigh impossible for any human being to obtain 

 a foothold there ; but they come skipping down, 

 with almost as much unconcern as if they were on 



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