214 THE DEATH. 



commence the descent, Hector presented himself from 

 behind a ledge of rock, which by a short cut he had 

 reached a few minutes previously ; and thus intercepted, 

 the game was forced to make off for the channel of the 

 burn, to which allusion has been made. Hector now 

 joined me, and we both followed the course taken by the 

 deer until the burn was reached. This descent the 

 shepherd was certain the stag could not accomplish ; 

 and accordingly, on cautiously looking down its course 

 with my glass, he discovered the animal standing about 

 half-way down, at a point where the rock was most pre- 

 cipitous, evidently unwilling to venture further. 



Now therefore we made a short detour so as to creep 

 in upon the deer's flank as he stood in this awkward 

 position. To perform this feat was by no means easy, 

 but, with such a prize before us, obstacles, which in 

 ordinary cases would have proved insurmountable, were 

 now overcome with marvellous rapidity, and, after sun- 

 dry narrow escapes, I found myself within fifty yards 

 of the stag, his horns just visible above a tuft of 

 heather. Altering my position, therefore, so as to 

 command a view of his neck, I fired. The ball passed 

 through his wind-pipe, and he at once dropped. On 

 reaching the burn, we found that he had rolled twenty 

 or thirty yards down its course, and in the fall had 

 broken off the tip of one of his points. However, he 

 was a magnificent beast, and well repaid the exertions 

 of the day. 



While the usual process of gralloching and disem- 

 boweling was gone through, I sat down to eat a biscuit 

 and take a nip of whiskey ; and then serving out a 

 similar modicum to my companion, took out my glass 

 and began to look for Alister. Hector was sure that 

 his stag, having taken a different route, would by this 



