118 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



to get a second shot as the others should come into 

 sight. But they were too quick. We went to the one 

 I had shot, and found to my chagrin it was a kid. 

 This was vexatious, but it was the only one I saw, and 

 being partly hidden, I had not, in the shade of the 

 wood, been able to distinguish it. While we were 

 cleaning it, there was a croaking and a rustling of 

 wings in the air. 



" Ha ! there are the ravens," said Solacher; " hardly 

 has the rifle cracked, before those birds are on the 

 spot. Where they come from I can't tell ; for though 

 not one was to be seen before, as soon as anything is 

 shot they appear directly." 



As my companion would have to carry the cha- 

 mois the whole day, I believe he was not sorry it was 

 only a kid ; for to him this was nothing, and he felt 

 the difference no more than if an additional bullet or 

 two had been put into his rucksack. 



We went up higher, and then kept along the side 

 of the mountain ; we presently crept forward, and 

 looked over into an immense chasm. Solacher drew 

 back with a start. " Chamois are there," he whispered ; 

 " but they have heard us. What a pity ! They are 

 oft 7 they are moving," he said, again peeping over. 

 " Ah, the devil take you and your whistling !" he con- 

 tinued angrily, as one of the herd uttered the shrill 

 long-drawn-out sound that betokens fear. "But, quick! 

 get a shot if you can." 



It was a tremendously long shot at an animal so 

 small as a chamois, and I said it was useless to fire. 



