136 FOLLOWING THE WOUNDED. 



the tidings that he had seen the stag lie down, 

 apparent^ exhausted; and he undertook to lead us 

 directly to the spot, which he had carefully marke 

 before leaving his post. This was indeed good news. 

 Night was coming on, and we had feared another 

 unsuccessful day; but now there seemed a good 

 prospect of a fortunate termination to our labours, 

 and under the guidance of our veteran leader we once 

 more pressed eagerly forward. 



Having clambered as silently and expeditiously as 

 possible up the rocky bed of the burn, Gillespie 

 paused for a few minutes to reconnoitre, as we were 

 now close upon the spot where the wounded animal 

 had lain down. Cautiously lifting his head, he peered 

 through the heather ; but nothing was visible. 

 Concluding, therefore, that the deer was lying in a 

 hollow, we cocked our guns, and rose simultaneously 

 above the bank ; but what was our disappointment, on 

 finding that the game had decamped. There remained 

 indeed in the peat soil before us the impression of his 

 body, but that was all ; nor could we discover further 

 traces. A few steps in one direction brought us to 

 the hard rock, in another to deep heather, neither of 

 which afforded us any clue to his movements. As a 

 last resource, we separated, in the hopes that by 

 wandering in different directions, one or other of us 

 might be so fortunate as to cross his path. But no 

 such luck ; the mystery remained unsolved. 



After roaming for some minutes, anxiously searching 

 each hollow and scanning every brae, we were suddenly 

 summoned by a shrill whistle from our guide. On 

 joining him, we received the agreeable tidings that he 

 had discovered four deer, feeding in very favourable 

 ground ; and though reluctant to abandon the pursuit 



