GETTING A QUIET SHOT. 59 



Peter : here lay the rifles on the bank and give them to 

 me when I am in the burn." 



Tortoise then worked half his body over the bank, and, 

 stooping low, brought his hands up on a large granite 

 stone in the burn, with his breast to the water, and drew 

 the rest of his body after him as straight as he possibly 

 could. He was then half immersed, and getting close 

 under the bank, took the rifles. The rest followed ad- 

 mirably. In fact, the water was not so deep as it ap- 

 peared to be, being scarcely over the hips. They proceeded 

 in this manner about twenty yards, when, the ground 

 being more favourable, they were enabled to get on dry 

 land. 



" Do you think it will do ? " 



" Hush ! hush ! he has not seen us yet ; and yonder 

 is my mark. The deer lies opposite it to the south : he 

 is almost within gunshot even now." 



A sign was given to Peter Fraser to come alongside, for 

 they were arrived at the spot from which it was necessary 

 to diverge into the moss. In breathless expectation they 

 now turned to the eastward, and crept forward through the 

 bog, to enable them to come in upon the flank of the hart, 

 who was lying with his head up wind, and would thus 

 present his broadside to the rifle when he started ; whereas, 

 if they had gone in strait behind him, his haunches would 

 have been the only mark, and the shot would have been a 

 disgraceful one. Now came the anxious moment. Every 

 thing hitherto had succeeded ; much valuable time had 

 been spent; they had gone forward in every possible 

 position ; their hands and knees buried in bogs, wreathing 

 on their stomachs through the mire, or wading up the 



