152 WARWICK WOODLANDS, 



pably, in every limb, with eagerness his ears laid flat upon his 

 neck, and cowering a little, as if he feared the shot, which it 

 would seem his instinct told him to expect. Harry had dropped 

 his reins once more, and levelled his unerring rifle yet for a 



moment's space he paused, waiting for A to fire ; there was 



no hurry for himself, nay, a few seconds more would give him a 

 yet fairer shot, for the buck now was running partially toward 

 him, so that a moment more would place him broadside on, 

 and within twenty paces. 



" Bang !" came the full and round report of A 's large 



shot-gun, fired before the beast was fifteen yards away from 

 him. He had aimed at the head, as he was forced to do, lest 

 he should spoil the haunches, for he was running now directly 

 from him and had the buck been fifty paces off he would have 

 killed him dead, lodging his whole charge, or the best part of 

 it, in the junction of the neck and skull but as it was, the 

 cartridge the green cartridge had not yet spread at all ; nor 

 had one buckshot left the case ! Whistling like a single ball, 

 as it passed Harry's front eight or nine yards off, it drove, as 

 his quick eye discovered, clean through the stag's right ear, al- 

 most dissevering it, and making the animal bound six feet off* 

 the green sward. 



Just as he touched the earth again, alighting from his mighty 

 spring, with an aim sure and steady, and a cool practised finger, 

 the marksman drew his trigger, and, quick, as light, the piece 

 well loaded, as its dry crack announced discharged its ponder- 

 ous missile ! But, bad luck on it, even at that very instant, 

 just in the point of time wherein the charge was ignited, 

 eighteen or twenty quail, flushed by the hubbub of the hounds, 

 rose with a loud and startling whirr, on every side of the gray 

 horse, under his belly and about his ears, so close as almost to 

 brush him with their wings he bolted and reared up yet 

 even at that disadvantage the practised rifleman missed not his 

 aim entirely, though he erred somewhat, and the wound in con- 

 sequence was not quite deadly. 



The ball, which he had meant for the heart, his sight being 

 taken under the fore-shoulder, was raised and thrown forward 

 by the motion of the horse, and passed clean through the neck 

 close to the blade bone. Another leap, wilder and loftier than 

 the last ! yet still the stag dashed onward, with the blood gush- 

 ing out in streams from the wide wound, though as yet neither 



