The Maral Stag 221 



him, and was just about to pull when Mahommed 

 crawled to my side. "Don't shoot! don't shoot! 

 for God's sake don't shoot ! " he whispered. " He 

 will come right up, and then you will assuredly 

 put him to sleep." I ought to have closed my 

 ears, trusted my own judgment, and taken the 

 shot, for it was a fair chance and I was steady. 

 But a shikari that comes gibbering in one's ear 

 at the very moment one is pressing the trigger 

 with what self-command one can muster ! Is he 

 any less condemnable than a golf caddie if such 

 a thing were possible that chatters advice as one 

 is putting all one's mental concentration into a 

 drive ? Feeble comparison ! You have eighteen 

 tee shots each round you play, but this was the 

 chance of a lifetime ! In short, I forgot the 

 golden maxim, carpe diem, and threw away a 

 fair chance in hopes of a better. The stag came 

 slowly on, then suddenly turned half-left, and as 

 the shikari realised his error and whispered 

 "shoot" and I mine he had disappeared 

 amongst the trees. I waited long for him to 

 reappear, and then for hours after crept silently 

 through the forest, but I never saw him again, 

 and what is more, never afterwards saw his 

 equal. 



There is always a tendency to expect, or at 

 any rate to hope, that history will repeat itself. 



