NERVOUS EXCITEMENT. 305 



" Hist, hist ! by heavens they are coming ! how strong 

 they smell ! * They must be very near ; I hear their 

 trampling. Keep down! low low: do not peep; you 

 will ruin us for ever. Your mouth in the heather, if 

 you please : close close ; even to suffocation," whis- 

 pered he. " Pray pardon me, my excellent friend ; " and 

 he pressed Lightfoot's face gently into the bog with all 

 possible courtesy. 



At this moment the deer began to hesitate ; to look 

 again around them, and to consult their leaders before 

 they determined upon their course. 



The lying concealed in expectation of a doubtful event, 

 and almost within reach of the deer, is one of the most 

 nervous situations imaginable. In running with them 

 there are various things to distract your attention : caution 

 to preserve the wind ; prudence to keep your limbs entire 

 in going at the top of your speed down rocky declivities, 

 or amongst large stones concealed in the long ling. Even 

 in creeping for a quiet shot, you are naturally somewhat 

 engaged in ejecting the mud from your mouth, deeming it, 

 perhaps, misplaced, unpleasant, or unwholesome. There 

 is also a sensation when the water enters your shirt breast, 

 which, although not novel to a veteran, may be termed 

 somewhat interesting. Thus the care bestowed upon your 



* A large herd of deer may be smelt at a very considerable distance, 

 particularly after they have been much driven. The writer of these 

 pages has often been governed in his movements by their taint, when 

 they have been below him amongst the steep crags, over which he 

 could not descend to look, for fear of not being able to recover his 

 ground in time, and thus losing the command of the hill. The taint, 

 though of a different nature, is fully as strong as that of the ground in 

 which sheep have been folded. 



X 



