104 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI. 



a kind of vague hope that my ball . might have 

 passed through her shoulder, though in reality I 

 was sure this was not the case. They never 

 stopped till they reached the very summit of one 

 of the heights that inclosed the valley, and then 

 they all halted in a group for two or three minutes, 

 standing in clear and strong relief between me 

 and the sky. After looking back for a short 

 time towards the point of alarm, they disappeared 

 over the top of the hill, and I reloaded my rifle, and 

 then went to examine the exact spot where my ball 

 had struck. Judging from the height it was from 

 the ground, I saw the hind had had a very narrow 

 escape, and muttered to myself " Not a bad shot 

 after all, though unlucky ; well, I'm glad it was not 

 a fine stag never mind the hinds." It's pleasant 

 to find consolation " rebus in adversis ;" my dog 

 in the meantime scented about a good deal, and 

 seemed to wonder that I had missed. 



I now turned off out of my stony path, and 

 walked across a long tract of easy ground. There 

 were several likely spots in my way, but no deer 

 were to be found ; and an hour before my time I 

 arrived at the trysting-place, which was a pecu- 

 liarly shaped large rock, standing in the midst of a 

 great extent of ground covered with gray stones 

 and rocks of a similar description, but all much 



