FURTHER DAYS. 263 



us that day, for within a mile we saw another stag on 

 the side of a hill opposite, about four hundred yards 

 away. I did not think he had a good head, but Ross 

 and Ed were of a different opinion, so while I 

 remained where I was, they followed to make sure. 

 After about half an hour they returned, having obtained 

 a much closer look at the stag, which confirmed them in 

 their estimation of the head, at any rate to the extent 

 that it showed better horns than the stag already killed 

 by Ross. But, unluckily, the animal led them into a 

 strip of green timber, where stalking became very diffi- 

 cult, and they lost him. I blamed myself for this 

 disappointment, as, had I not depreciated the head, Ross 

 might have closed in with and shot the deer when he 

 first became visible. 



Although we hunted the rest of the day we met with 

 no more stags, and on returning to camp we found that 

 Howard had had a poor day. He had spent it, accord- 

 ing to Ed's and my advice, sitting on the top of the 

 First Look-out, and having seen from that point of 

 vantage nothing more interesting than an unlimited 

 quantity of black fly, but not a single deer. In the 

 evening I went with Ed down to the lake to try a 

 moose-call, but the wind was so strong that after two 

 or three calls we abandoned the attempt. 



This first successful day seemed to have used up our 

 share of good fortune, for hunt as we would, neither 

 Howard nor I saw anything at all, while Ross and 

 Ed came across a couple of small stags not worth a 

 bullet. 



At the time I was not particularly keen to shoot 

 another caribou, but wanted very much to fall in with 

 a moose, and, with this aim in view, I went out alone 



