292 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



" Oh no, it is nothing ; I have many a time carried 

 two roe-bucks, and have still gone on stalking, as 

 though I had nothing. Two I did not feel, I did not 

 mind them at all. I have even done so with three, 

 and have carried home five. Sixty, eighty pounds, 

 I don't mind now, but more I should not much like. 



" Yet that 's a pretty fair weight to carry a long 

 time/' 



" Yes, but I am not what I once was : formerly I 

 cared for nothing ; heat, or cold, or hunger, it made 

 little difference to me. I used to be out day after day, 

 and night after night, and did not return home from 

 one week's end to the other. But once I went out, 

 and in the evening, on reaching the hut where I in- 

 tended to sleep, found it full of snow; so I could 

 make no fire. I was in a profuse sweat, and of course 

 had nothing to put over me ; I got some brushwood 

 and made a bed on the snow, and lay down. The 

 next morning I felt ill, and went home; but I was 

 so cold and stiff that it took me a whole day to get 

 there. I have never been quite well since." 



There were no signs of stiffness in his limbs now, 

 for on he went at a smart pace, despite the rough path 

 and the chamois at his back; and let me tell you, 

 dear Reader, a good buck hangs at your shoulders 

 with a very considerable dead weight. 



In coming down a mountain, there is every now and 

 then some appearance which gives indication of your 

 approach to the valley ; and each one, as it shows you 

 are nearing your home, is welcome and makes you 



