66 AUTUMNS IN ARGYLESHIRE 



been more effectual had it been given before in- 

 stead of after the catastrophe. His rider was 

 unhurt, and only very little wetter than he had 

 been before ; but he preferred to walk the rest 

 of the way, and it was past nine before we got 

 back to the Castle, and nearly midnight before 

 we regained our quarters at Millden. I never 

 remember a longer or harder day, for, although 

 I was in excellent training for walking, I felt the 

 next morning almost as stiff and sore as if I had 

 been beaten with a club. 



It was not until many years after that I got 

 my first stag. My lines had fallen in pleasant 

 places, but although every other species of High- 

 land sport had been at my disposal, I had not 

 found a second opportunity of going after the 

 red deer. All comes to him who waits, and at 

 last I found my way to Braemore, the beautiful 

 place of Sir John Fowler. No one but the great 

 engineer, whose achievements in the field of his 

 profession are the pride of his countrymen, could 

 have planned and constructed the sportsman's 

 paradise I then visited for the first time. When 

 he bought his estate in Ross-shire, and considered 

 where to build his house, he determined that it 

 should stand sufficiently high to counteract the 

 somewhat relaxing character of the climate, and 

 should command a view of the strath and of the 

 sea. At once he was assured that no such site 

 existed. But with the giants of his calling 



