88 STALKS ABROAD 



the Black went foraging abroad beyond his border 

 keep. Down the glen little specks of light were 

 dancing, and involuntarily one listened for the distant 

 roll of the drums or the wild and matchless music 

 of the pipes. An eagle startled from his coign of 

 vantage sailed gracefully across the valley and lit 

 on a rock. Dissatisfied with his position he lurched 

 heavily off and lumbered clumsily up the hill across 

 an open patch of ground. His awkward waddle 

 robbed him of all majesty, and it was hard to re- 

 cognise him as the same bird. The goats saw him 

 but hardly turned their heads, all unconscious of 

 the two dark figures who had caused his flight. 



We were on the spur now. In front of us lay 

 a big slide of loose rock varying in size from huge 

 boulders to tiny splinters of shale. Across this, very 

 gingerly and carefully, we had to pick our way. The 

 goats were not in sight, but as a piece of loose stone 

 went clattering down the slide Henry turned with a 

 quick, silent gesture. A tall pointed peak reared 

 itself fifty yards above the fir tree beneath which the 

 billy had been standing, but one of the . younger 

 goats stood there now. The others had filed away 

 down the hill leaving the bed beneath the tree 

 tenantless. 



We gained the peak in safety and I took a 

 cautious peep. The goat was quietly feeding. 



At the first sharp crack he merely raised his head. 

 At the second he looked up. Then he went rolling 

 down the hillside, striking vainly for a foothold with 



