i6o CANADIAN NIGHTS 



view and took a spy at them with my field-glasses, 

 to see if there was a good head among the gang. 

 There they were — one, two, three, four, five deer, 

 feeding quietly, but I could not make out any 

 antlers among them. Curious-looking deer, too, I 

 thought to myself, and screwed the glasses in a 

 little, and steadied myself for a better look. Well, 

 I thought, there is certainly an unusual appearance 

 about them, something odd in the colour, some- 

 thing strange in the shape. Of a sudden a thought 

 that felt red-hot rushed through me — what if they 

 should be sheep ! " By Jove ! they are sheep," 

 I exclaimed, as one moved a little into a better 

 light — " two big rams, just look at their horns," 

 and three small ones. I declare I felt as excited as 

 if I had discovered a new animal or attained the 

 North Pole. I was so nervous I could not do any- 

 thing for a few minutes, but after a while set to 

 work in fear and trembling to execute a scientific 

 stalk. If those sheep had been the last specimens 

 of their race remaining on earth, I could not have 

 been more anxious to get a fair shot at them. It 

 was a difficult country, and I had a hard climb and 

 an anxious time of it, but at last I got into a position 

 that I felt sure would enable me to creep up within 

 range. Alas ! I was doomed to awful disappoint- 



