AN UNLUCKY DAY. 149 



below, instead of chamois lie saw a hat, and then 

 another and another : several poachers were there, 

 close beneath him, making their arrangements for the 

 day's operations. He was so near that it is a wonder 

 they did not see his face. Behind him all was bare, 

 with only a single latschen where he might conceal 

 himself. He slid back as noiselessly as possible ; and 

 when some yards away from the ridge he cocked his 

 rifle, and passing through a ravine went up the side 

 of a mountain opposite. Here he was quite exposed 

 to their view, and they might easily have seen him, 

 which indeed was the very thing he wished ; for he 

 knew that if they perceived him they would be sure 

 to watch his movements, and wait to see in what 

 direction he went before setting off themselves, and 

 he hoped in the meantime Solacher might come. 

 He went slowly up the path, sitting down occa- 

 sionally, as if wholly unconscious of their neighbour- 

 hood. It seems however they did not observe him. 

 The young Count then made a circuit, and reached a 

 spot among some rocks, whence he could see the men 

 as they came up out of the hollow. The path they 

 would then have to take crossed an open piece of 

 ground, with hardly a bush upon it, so that they 

 would be quite exposed, whilst he was sheltered by 

 the blocks of stone. Presently he saw their heads 

 appearing, and soon after they came on, one behind 

 the other. He had meanwhile double-shotted his 

 gun, and was now in the act of raising his rifle and 

 calling to the foremost to lay down his weapon, when 



