DEATH OF THE STAG. 215 



by finding that there was no visible means of approaching a 

 yard nearer. The last sheltering mound was come to ; and 

 although these mounds from a distance looked scattered 

 closely, when I got amongst them I found they were two or 

 three rifle-shots "apart at the nearest. There was one chance 

 that occurred to me : a rock, or rather stone, lay about 

 eighty yards from the stag, and it seemed that I might make 

 use of this as a screen, so as, if my luck was great, to get at 

 the animal. I took off my plaid, laid it on the ground, and 

 ordered the dog to lie still on it ; then buttoning my jacket 

 tightly, and putting a piece of cork, which I carried for the 

 purpose, into the muzzle of my rifle to prevent the dirt 

 getting into it, I started in the most snake-like attitude that 

 the human frame would admit of. I found that by keeping 

 perfectly Hat, and not even looking up once, I could still get 

 on unobserved. Inch by inch I crawled : as I neared the 

 stone my task was easier, as the ground sank a little and the 

 heather was longer. At last I reached the place, and saw 

 the tips of his horns not above eighty yards from me. I had 

 no fear of losing him now ; so, taking out the cork from my 

 rifle, I stretched my limbs one by one, and prepared to rise to 

 an attitude in which I could shoot ; then, pushing my rifle 

 slowly forward, I got the barrel over the stone unperceived, 

 and rose very gradually on one knee. The stag seemed to be 

 intent in watching the face of the opposite hill, and, though 

 I was partially exposed, did not see me : his attitude was 

 very favourable, which is seldom the case when a stag is 

 lying down ; so, taking a deliberate aim at his shoulder, I 

 was on the point of firing, when he suddenly saw me, and, 

 jumping up, made off as hard as he could. He went in a 

 slanting direction, and before he had gone twenty yards I 

 fired. I was sure that I was steady on him, but the shot 

 only seemed to hurry his pace ; on he went like an arrow out 

 of a bow, having showed no symptom of being hurt beyond 

 dropping his head for a single moment. 



I remained motionless in despair : a more magnificent stag 

 I had never seen, and his bright red colour and white-tipped 

 horns showed me that he was the very animal I had so often 

 seen and wished to get. He ran on without slackening his 

 pace for at least a hundred yards, then suddenly fell with a 

 crash to the ground, his horns rattling against the stones. I 

 knew he was perfectly dead, so, calling the dog, ran up to 

 him. The stag was quite motionless, and lay stretched out 



