THE OLD BUCK. 333 



he now come yonder, for example, near those stones 

 and I be lucky enough to bring him down, how 

 proudly should I return home and relate that the old 

 buck had at last fallen ! Then too, in after times, 

 when the keepers would talk of their exploits, and of 

 the noble stags or sturdy chamois that had fallen here 

 or there, each one remembered as accurately, with 

 place and date, as a succession of monarchs, then 

 would this famous buck be mentioned, and they would 

 tell how he had been often followed in vain, and how 

 at last "the Englishman*" brought him death. 



And these fine imaginings were all I had, for no 

 chamois came. At length, high up among the latschen 

 the young forester appeared, making his way down- 

 ward as well as he was able : he had seen nothing, it 

 was therefore evident the wary old buck had betaken 

 himself to some remoter stronghold. 



Such a place as that where I was watching is my 

 delight is the delight indeed of every hunter; for 

 from it I could have seen the game, had any come, long 

 before it reached me. And this is always pleasant ; not 

 only because it gives you time for preparation, but on 

 account of the delicious excitement you feel in every 

 vein, from the moment you espy the coming creature 

 till that other moment when you feel it is your own. 

 Your hopes, your fears, your longings all that makes 

 up the sum of the enjoyment is thus heightened by 

 being prolonged. You watch its approach with greedy 

 eyes, and full of anxieties : the excitement would choke 



* " Der Herr Englander," as the people always named me. 



