AMBUSCADE AT THE WOOD. 307 



tually did appear; and Lightfoot, all trembling with 

 eagerness, was clapping his rifle to his shoulder, when 

 Tortoise stayed him, gently whispering in his ear, " A 

 worthless beastie, my good fellow ; let him pass ; remem- 

 ber the four-year old the enormous monster the liaud 

 credo: this is a twin to him." But nothing better came 

 on nought but rubbish. So not a shot was fired. 



They now gave the deer a little time to get on, and 

 then peeped through the heather tops at the slope of the 

 green knows. There they saw the vast herd below them, 

 which had kept increasing their forces as they passed the 

 lower grounds. There might be some four or five hundred 

 of them altogether. 



The deer now began to form into a more compact body. 

 Some looked back, some towards the slaps in the dike, 

 others to the east and west. Now they drew up on an 

 eminence to the cast : they longed for the security of the 

 woods, but were afraid to venture. Sometimes they were 

 about to break to the west, sometimes on the opposite 

 quarter ; but at every point they met with opposition. 

 At these critical moments various were the pushes made 

 by the sportsmen in the rear to each flank of the green 

 knows, in accordance with their motions. Still as they 

 ran they were concealed under the rising ground. Pressed 

 on their flanks, and alarmed on their rear, the woods 

 seemed the only refuge for the herd ; and a long string of 

 harts and hinds raced away within shot of the stone dike 

 that bounded them ; the rest of the body lingered behind, 

 as if to ascertain how the experiment would succeed. 



Now began the din of arms : two rifle shots echoed through 

 the hollow woods, and two noble harts bit the dust. " That 



x 2 



