DEER-STALKING 65 



main. Personally, however, I would rather take 

 an indifferent chance than wait an indefinite 

 time, feeling my courage oozing out of my finger- 

 ends ; and where there was no one to say me 

 nay, I have sometimes taken my own course 

 with success. 



But to return to my first day at Invermark. 

 I had missed my first chance, but all was not lost, 

 and we started at once on a desperate attempt 

 to cut off the herd, which was heading at a gallop 

 for the neighbouring corrie. Down we ran, leap- 

 ing over peat hags and scrambling across boulders, 

 and my companion duly scored his miss at the 

 herd, still moving at a fairly long range, with 

 even better excuse for failure than myself. It 

 was a day of disappointment, and although we 

 persevered till darkness closed in upon us, being 

 desperately keen, at last we had to return empty- 

 handed to a spot where the ponies were waiting 

 for us. The burns had been running down all 

 day, and, as soon as I had mounted, my gillie 

 pointed to a ford in front of me, which I pro- 

 ceeded to cross. Just as I got to the opposite 

 bank I heard a cry of distress, and looking round, 

 saw that my unfortunate companion had been dis- 

 lodged into the water. His pony had shown 

 temper and kicked and bucked in the most in- 

 convenient place. The gillie remarked that it 

 was always nasty if its stable companion was 

 too far ahead of it ; a warning which would have 



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