SEPT. ESCAPE OF DEER. 293 



to leave the wood by ; there we waited some time 

 without seeing anything excepting an occasional 

 blackcock or gray hen, which, having been dis- 

 turbed by the beaters at the other end of the cover, 

 came skimming rapidly past us. Presently we per- 

 ceived far below us four brown forms walking 

 slowly through the high fern and herbage which 

 grew amongst the birch-trees. As they emerged 

 from the cover we saw that they were three hinds 

 and a calf. With uncertain pace they went on, 

 sometimes trotting in a line, and sometimes stand- 

 ing in a group on some hillock, from which they 

 looked back earnestly and inquiringly into the 

 wood. I was convinced by their manner that there 

 were other deer, probably stags, still in the cover. 

 As, however, the sound of the beaters came nearer, 

 the four deer gradually mended their pace, and in 

 a quiet canter followed the devious track which led 

 them to the summit of a steep hill to our right hand. 

 It was interesting to see how, having once made up 

 their mind as to their route, they went steadily and 

 rapidly on in single file, winding up the face of the 

 hill, sometimes lost to our sight behind a cluster 

 of rocks, or a birch-covered hillock, and again ap- 

 pearing as they kept deliberately on their way. 

 At the very ridge of the hill they halted again, and 

 after standing in a confused group with their heads 



