CHAP.THIRTY-FOUR DEERHOUNDS 



tary spirit of the mountain, he seemed to have made up his 

 mind that all was right and safe, and he walked slowly and 

 deliberately half-way down the hill, and after stopping 

 again to reconnoitre for a short time, he dropped at once 

 down into the heather. I watched him for a few minutes 

 through the glass, as he lay motionless, excepting that now 

 and then he turned his horn down to scratch a fly off his 

 side, or shook his ears when the gnats were particularly 

 troublesome about his head. 



We saw that he had taken up too wary and commanding 

 a position to admit of our approaching him with the dogs ; 

 so after some consultation, and, as usual, much opposition, 

 from Donald, we adopted my plan of driving him, taking 

 the chance of his leaving the glen at his usual pass, where 

 Malcolm and I were to hold the dogs. The shepherd 

 was to move him; and Donald was to be placed with his 

 gun in a burn over the hill, to which we judged he would 

 probably run, and go to bay when pressed by the hounds. 

 Donald, having loaded his gun with an immense charge of 

 slugs in one barrel and a ball in the other, started off. The 

 shepherd took a long circuit to get below the deer, while 

 Malcolm and I took up our post in a capital hiding-place 

 near the line by which the game had entered the glen. 

 There was not a breath of wind blowing from anydirection, 

 everything was as calm as it could possibly be, so that 

 although we had no fear of being scented by the stag, we 

 had to take the extremest care not to make the least 

 noise in going to our place of ambuscade. We held the 

 dogs in our handkerchiefs as the quickest way of slipping 

 them. The stag was easily seen without much risk of his 

 445 



