290 THRILLING ADVENTURES. 



both hands necessary to sustain himself on the narrow path ; 

 he therefore warded off the blows as well as he could with his 

 feet, and kept still advancing. The anguish of the mother 

 increased. She dashed back to her young, coursed round them 

 with her cries, as if to warn them of their danger, and then 

 leaped up the before named fragments of rock, from which 

 the second but more difficult egress from the grotto was to 

 be won. She then leaped down again to her little ones, and 

 seemed to encourage them to attempt the leap. In vain the 

 little creatures sprang and wounded their foreheads against 

 the rocks that were too high for them, and in vain the mother 

 repeated again and again her firm and graceful leap, to show 

 them the way. All this was the work of a few minutes whilst 

 the hunter had again advanced some steps nearer. He was 

 just preparing to make the last effort, when the following pic- 

 ture, which was the particular circumstance he referred to in 

 speaking of the chamois' cunning, met his astonished eyes : 

 The old chamois, fixing her legs firmly on the rock behind, 

 had stretched her body to its utmost length, and planted her 

 fore feet on the rock above, thus forming a temporary bridge 

 of her back. The little ones in a minute seeming to compre- 

 hend the design of their mother, sprang upon her like cats, 

 and thus reached the point of safety ; the picture only lasted 

 long enough to enable their pursuer to make the last step. 

 He sprang into the niche, thinking himself now sure of the 

 young chamois, but all three were off with the speed of the 

 wind, and a couple of shots that he sent after the fugitives 

 merely announced by their echo to the surrounding rocks 

 that he had missed his game. 



