ON PLAIN AND PEAK 



ever. To do so would give quite a wrong im- 

 pression of chamois-driving. 



It is not always sunshine, even in the Alps ; and 

 the weather has a great part to play. To say 

 nothing of the terrors of mist, there is the wind 

 to be taken into account. The best managed drive 

 in the world may be spoilt at the last moment by 

 the wind chopping round, for nothing on earth will 

 make chamois face a danger-tainted breeze. Ac- 

 cidents will occur, too : a poacher may have passed 

 through the drive, and hopelessly disturbed the 

 game ; or a beater may mistake an order, and 

 arrive at an appointed place too soon such things 

 often utterly ruin what might otherwise have been 

 a most successful day. 



We had more than our share of bad luck during 

 our week in the Tyrol. Out of seven days' driving, 

 one was spoilt by the wind, one by a shot fired by a 

 poacher before the drive commenced, and three 

 days were not as good as they should have been, 

 but for no apparent reason. 



Friday, the thirteenth of November (could one 

 find a more unlucky date ?), broke bright and frosty. 

 It was a lovely morning. The sun shone down 

 upon the whitened ground, and every grass-stem 

 sparkled in his golden rays as if studded with a 

 score of diamonds. On such a day mere existence 

 was a pleasure ! 



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