MULE DEER AND MOUNTAIN GOAT 81 



were going to be killed he might for once present the 

 Incompetent One with his candid opinion of him, pro- 

 ceeded to do so with such directness and choice of diction 

 that he didn't survive the shock and went back home. 

 Bell turned up in a day or two so it was all right. 



It had been snowing in the night, and as, on the 

 morning of the 21st, we climbed the lower hill-slopes, 

 showers of snow fell from the laden branches on our 

 heads and necks. Wet and damp though we were, 

 I could not find it in my heart to be angry, for it 

 was a privilege to be alive in such a place. Then it 

 became doubly worth living as Henry abruptly came 

 to a stop, pointed to a little black dot which moved 

 among the leafless clumps of bushes splashing the 

 snow-laden hillside, and said " Good stag ! " though 

 how he could tell its quality at such a distance I don't 

 know. To me it looked something like a small puppy 

 seen through the wrong end of a telescope, though 

 even then wonderfully sharp and clear. It was 

 but little out of our way to go among those leafless 

 clumps and I was very keen to get a stag, for mule 

 deer are extremely graceful creatures and carry 

 beautiful little heads. 



I am ignorant whether any one has ever introduced 

 them into a Highland deer forest. The climate of 

 Scotland is not unlike that of British Columbia, and 

 the deer, provided they could stand the damp, would 

 be an ornament to any place. 



The going was pretty bad and the snow fright- 

 fully slippery in places. It was almost impossible to 



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