3^ THE IMAGE OF WAR 



One glimpse I had of two splendid horns over the 

 next little ridge, the head between them turned in 

 wonder at my lunatic, and then, before I could grasp 

 the rifle, the ram was gone, and life was a blank. 

 Two hours' hard and scientific stalk wasted by an 

 act of disobedience ! Had he only left me the rifle 

 I might at least have had a snap-shot ; but had he 

 remained still, we should certainly have picked up 

 the moufllon instead of its being disturbed by his 

 restlessness. That night he struck for higher wages. 

 The occasion was unpropitious, and I allowed him 

 to return to his Penates, and took out the next 

 day a man called Janni, who was absolutely useless, 

 and clattered through the woods like a mule. So 

 I sent for Hussein again. 



On the 3rd of November he took me to the same 

 valley where Jerome had lost, me the ram, and very 

 cleverly found four moufllon — three ewes and a ram^ 

 a long way up the main valley. They were, however, 

 moving on, and so I did not think much of the chance. 

 I sent Hussein to try and head them back to me, but 

 in this he failed, and we saw no more game that day. 



I found myself obliged to dismiss Hussein, who was 

 suflering from a disease which made him an impos- 

 sible companion. A week followed which was so 

 abominably windy that stalking was quite impossible ; 

 but on going out one morning with my gun in the 

 hope of woodcock (I had seen the first on the 1st 

 of November) or stone -hens, I came on a herd of 

 moufllon — the same as I mentioned last — not eighty 

 yards ofl*, and not a furlong from camp. Even small- 

 game shooting ceased to be a resource, for a forest- 

 guard notified me that only the rifle was allowed to 

 be used in this forest, and of course only at moufflon. 



