62 AUTUMNS IN ARGYLESHIRE 



hopeful. I shall never forget that sight: there 

 were plenty of stags well within shot, and to my 

 unpractised eye all of them were, of course, quite 

 big enough to kill. But such was not Donald's 

 opinion : there were just one or two worth a shot, 

 and the one he selected as the right beast was 

 nearly on the outside of the herd, at least a hun- 

 dred and fifty yards off. My airy confidence was 

 rather shaken, but I was a fair target shot and 

 had done some execution among fallow-deer and 

 roe with the rifle, and was quite ready and willing 

 to fire at the mark offered. Again I was stopped. 

 The herd was moving uphill and I must wait till 

 the beast came a good deal nearer. Meantime 

 I could watch it and keep my sight upon it 

 if I liked until I was told to shoot. The loser 

 of the toss also got his rifle ready, " in case 

 I missed," and the period of suspense com- 

 menced. 



I do not suppose we waited long, but it really 

 seemed a century. The chilly wind whistled over 

 the hill behind me, and I gradually got colder and 

 colder, and my fingers more and more benumbed ; 

 while the restless quadrupeds walked about with- 

 out my particular stag coming appreciably nearer, 

 although some of his companions must have been 

 within fifty yards. By the time that I was told to 

 shoot, I do not believe that I could have hit a 

 haystack, and, worst of all, my stag had got 

 rather farther instead of nearer. But it was now 



