A DAY'S SPORT ON THE KRAMMETS BERG. 177 



" You have not touched him/' said Xavier, who had 

 been watching the result through his glass : " the ball 

 passed just before his shoulder : I saw it strike the 

 bank behind him/' 



" Confound it, that 's the eifect of allowing for the 

 wind ! But for that I must have hit in the best place. 

 Nothing on earth can fire truer than your rifle." 



" Yes, I know it ; but being so far, and as the wind 

 is coming up from the valley, I thought it safer to 

 make an allowance for the draught." 



There was no use in being irritated ; besides Xavier 

 was so good-tempered and willing a fellow, that it 

 would have been difficult for me to have continued 

 angry long, had I been inclined. We kept along the 

 ridge until we came to a descent : here we sat down 

 to reconnoitre, and with our glasses examined the 

 ground below. We soon espied a buck, as usual 

 alone : he kept on the move for some time, always 

 holding a downward course, and at last, to our great 

 joy, lay down among some scattered latschen. 



"Now then, Xavier, will you try for him?" 



" Of course I will : he is certainly a good way off, 

 and the ground is bad enough for stalking, but it is 

 worth a trial at all events." 



We noted well where the chamois lay, for though 

 we could see the spot plainly from our eminence, we 

 should soon lose sight of it on getting lower. It was 

 to the left of a stony channel that the water had torn 

 in the side of the mountain ; this therefore, and a 

 pine about two hundred yards further off, were taken 



N 



