Running Red Deer. 263 



I look with a feeling of regret upon the fallen 

 fortunes of the sometime monarch of the glen. 



After this we go again in quest of another animal. 

 Quickly a noble fellow is selected, and promptly 

 isolated from his companions, and goes away a 

 clinker, and no mistake. A hound is at once 

 slipped, and " Loo, loo, loo ! " is again the sound 

 that makes the welkin ring. This time we have 

 a stouter and longer-enduring beast to deal with, 

 and he leads us a right merrie dance over the hills 

 and down the dales, through the brakes, along the 

 glades, and over the brown heather at a tremendous 

 speed. Now those who wish to go the pace can 

 indulge their fancy to the fullest extent — there is 

 no fear of overriding the hounds, the only difficulty 

 is to keep on terms with them. 



For a brief time I restrained the impetuosity of 

 my steed, but when Miss Russell went by me like a 

 flash of lightning, whilst galloping down a steep 

 descent, it was in vain that I tried to check the 

 speed of my excited nag. I, whether I liked it or 

 not, was compelled to follow suit, going at full 

 speed over the uneven ground, beneath overhang- 

 ing boughs and through stony water-courses, never 

 being able to halt for a moment in my Mazeppa-like 

 career until the stag reached a wide pool, and in it 

 sought to evade his pursuers. Pressed hard by the 

 hounds who dashed in after him, determined to 

 follow him to the bitter end, he quits the water 

 and goes away again ; but his heart failing, he 

 doubles back and takes to the water once more, 

 and the hounds being whipped off, he was finally 

 secured. 



