WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



lucky hind caught sight of my rifle-barrel as a ray of the sun 

 fell upon it; the rest ofthe herd took the alarm from herman- 

 ner, and they all rushed through the pass in the most mad 

 confusion. The difficult part was only a few yards in length, 

 and once through this, they got into regular order again. 



But where is their lord and leader? I was afraid to look 

 over my ambuscade for fear of turning him. Just as I was 

 about to do so, however, I heard his step on the stones, 

 and in the next moment he was in full view passing broad- 

 side to me, but going slowly and undecided whether to 

 proceed or turn back, having perceived the panic of the rest 

 ofthe flock. When he came to the difficult point where the 

 rest had leaped, he halted for a moment, looking round. 

 The next moment my rifle-ball passed through the top of 

 his shoulder, just too high; the blow, however, knocked 

 him down, and before he was up I had my gun in my hand; 

 the poor brute rose, and looked wildly round; not knowing 

 where the enemy was, nor which way to go, he stood still, 

 looking with anxious glance at his companions, who were 

 galloping off up an opposite slope. Expecting him to drop 

 dead every moment, I did not pull the trigger, but kept my 

 aim on him. The way the rest had gone seemed too rough 

 for him, and after standing for a minute gazing after them, 

 he turned round with the intention, probably, of going 

 down the hill to some well known burn where he had been 

 in the habit of bathing, and cooling his limbs. He twice fell 

 to his knees before he had gone five yards, and then walk- 

 ed slowly away. I thought he might recover strength, and 

 taking a deliberate aim, I fired. This time he fell without 

 a struggle, perfectly dead. Donald joined me by the time 



414 



