SEEKING A SABBATH DINNER. 67 



the keepers should unpleasantly interrupt him, he had 

 then run in upon the deer to " gralloch," or stab it 

 to the heart, thinking it to be at its last gasp ; and 

 how he was unpleasantly surprised, on grasping an 

 antler, to find the beast sufficiently vigorous to spring 

 blindly forward; and how, before there was time to 

 extricate himself, both he and the deer, the slayer and 

 the slain, had rolled over the precipice together, and 

 after a most marvellous but unpleasant succession of 

 falls, thumps, struggles, and bruises, both lay breath- 

 less at the foot of the crag. The deer, having fortu- 

 nately fallen undermost, had broken the force of the 

 shock to him, which however had been so severe as to 

 fracture his leg. " But," said he, " I sune drew his 

 life's blood; and there," he added, "is his head," 

 pointing to a deer's mask on the wall, " which I hae 

 keepit, and shall aye keep to my dying day." We 

 examined the head, which, however, was not remark- 

 able for its size ; though, no doubt, for old association's 

 sake, it was worth more to him than " siller or gowd." 

 ' But, Hob," asked Donald, " winna ye just tell the 

 gentleman about the big stag ye were three days in the 

 killing?" 



" 'Deed, will I," was the gracious reply. But here, 

 Reader, you must allow me to . give the story in my 

 own words. To recall those of Rob would be too 

 serious a task; and therefore, though I know that half 

 the charm will thereby be lost, I must e'en leave it to 

 your own fertile imagination to put in the finishing 

 strokes and effective touches of the master, while I 

 barely lay down the crude outline. Allow us one 

 moment for a preliminary pull at the flask and a pinch 

 of snuff not at all adulterated ; oh no ! and we 

 begin at once our narrative of the big stag of Ben 

 Rhynie. 



