1C8 EEMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS. 



my relief that no harm was done, though 

 not quite content in my own mind with my 

 exploit. 



On my return to the lodge, I was much con- 

 gratulated on my ridding the country of so 

 dangerous a brute, and for some time 

 St. George and the Dragon was a joke to 

 me. Afterwards, however, came a reaction. 

 Had a real forester been with me, this need 

 not have happened, and a fine tame beast, 

 imported from afar at great trouble and 

 expense, need not have been sacrificed. The 

 poor animal only came down to ogle us, as he 

 used to do the dairymaids, and to satisfy his 

 curiosity. In short, my popularity was as 

 short-lived as Beale's and Potter's, and I 

 became a tailor of the worst unionist-and- 

 picketing description. This did not disturb 

 my equanimity, or give me the jaundice. I 

 have often thought what good men would have 

 done under the circumstances — none of your 

 fanaticos who fancy themselves deerstalkers 

 because they crouch behind their stalker's 

 heels like retrievers, but men like Fred and 

 his henchman Macaulay. I have often asked 

 myself, '' Were you a tailor or not, for shooting 

 that tame stag ? " '' Did he mean charging ? " 

 My own opinion is he did not. But, certainly, 



