DEEK-STALKING 59 



democratic days. Needless to say he received us 

 hospitably, but his first sentence was a sad damper 

 to our enthusiasm. There could be no deer drive 

 that day. The wind was wrong, and even if this 

 obstacle had not been insurmountable, the swollen 

 condition of the burns and rivers would have 

 made it impossible to drive a large tract of 

 country. Our disappointment and misery were 

 apparent in our crestfallen faces ; but dear old 

 lloss soon reassured us. Of course, we should 

 have a stalk, and let us take it from him that it 

 would be far better fun than the drive we had 

 missed. A faint, and perhaps not altogether sin- 

 cere, protest against his giving up his sport was 

 offered ; but he would not hear of our not having 

 a day in the forest after we had come so far ; and 

 nine o'clock saw us tramping off in charge of the 

 stalker and a couple of gillies for the first corrie, 

 about five miles from the Castle. 



The ponies stood saddled at the door, but we 

 were told that we must do without them. Later 

 in the day perhaps, if the weather cleared, it would 

 be possible for them to follow us to the scene of 

 action; butfor the present they would only be a hind- 

 rance, as it would be impossible for them to ford even 

 what on ordinary days would have been dry water- 

 courses or shallow rivulets. The difficulty as to 

 two going together was solved by the usual process 

 of tossing for first shot, and fortune favoured me. 

 On we splashed over bog and moor, often having 



