244 HIND SLAUGHTERED. 



distance between us was sensibly diminished. At 

 length, following the example of my leader, I crept on 

 hands and knees for some distance till we reached a 

 boulder stone, over which Gillespie bade me look very 

 cautiously ; and on looking what did I see ? A fine 

 hind feeding within eighty yards, and in perfect 

 innocence of our proximity. Slowly and cautiously 

 I raised my rifle, aimed at the deer's shoulder as near 

 to the heart as her position would allow, and fired. 

 She fell without a struggle. 



The shot being a single one so little alarmed the 

 rest of the herd, consisting of another good hind and 

 five or six young stags, that we remained in our place 

 of concealment, until having trotted away to a distance 

 of not more than half a mile they paused. Here one 

 by one they began to feed, occasionally looking about 

 them as if puzzled to make out what had happened, 

 for the slain deer had been feeding apart from the rest, 

 and therefore they had not seen her fall. Roderich, 

 the gilly, who had some time before this returned from 

 taking the dog back to his father, was now left to 

 remove the intestines of the hind and prepare her 

 body for removal, while we went on to try for another. 



The herd, conscious of some danger, though not 

 knowing in what quarter, had taken up a position in 

 which it was impossible to accomplish a near approach. 

 The plan, therefore, which we adopted was that I should 

 hasten forward to a crag, below which their course 

 would probably lie, if disturbed, while my attendant 

 should presently show himself, and so hasten their 

 movements, as well as render them less suspicious of 

 danger in any other direction. This we began to put 

 into execution at once, for evening was fast approaching. 

 A few minutes sufficed for me to reach my position ; 



