180 DEATH-BLOW AND KEMORSE. 



abled the deer at a blow, and earned for himself a good 

 meal for many a day to come. 



The following is an account of a somewhat similar 

 incident which occurred to the foxhunter himself. 



He was wending his way homewards through the 

 forest, after nightfall, attended only by a faithful hound. 

 His route led him up a very steep " bealloch," or pass, 

 lying between two lofty mountain-summits, and through 

 which the deer were in the habit of going, almost 

 nightly, on their way to a sheltered corrie be} r ond. 

 When about half-way up, his dog, which was a few 

 yards in advance, suddenly sprang forward with a 

 furious bay at some object hidden in the gloom ahead. 

 In a moment after, down came a large hind, followed 

 closely by the dog, and, both rattling past him, tore 

 down the hill at a mad pace, amongst a loud clatter of 

 loosened stones, and were speedily lost to sight and 

 hearing in the depths of the glen below. Gillespie 

 called to his hound, but in vain, and then continued 

 his route, trusting that the truant, wearied out, or 

 losing his game in the darkness, would presently 

 return and overtake him. He had not however 

 mounted much higher, when he again heard the bay of 

 his dog below, and/from its increasing loudness, per- 

 ceived that they were ascending the brae in his direc- 

 tion. Soon they approached nearer, and the loud 

 panting of the two, audible in the profound stillness 

 of the night, as they toiled painfully up the rocky pass, 

 told plainly how severe had been the chase. Presently 

 the deer was dimly visible through the gloom, though 

 not many yards distant, the dog straining closely at 

 her flank, and striving each moment to fix his fangs in 

 the animal and bring her down. Acting on the im- 

 pulse of the moment, and without thinking what he 



