AFTER THE GOOD STAG. 23 



woods it was easy enough to proceed j but here, it being 

 steep and slippery, and as we were unable to see the path 

 and the obstacles it presented, our progress was rather 

 slow. This however I should say of myself only ; for my 

 companion was always in advance, nimbly mounting be- 

 fore me, and waiting till I reached him. The logs of 

 wood left to rot on the ground are sadly inconvenient on 

 such occasions : you knock your shins almost to pieces 

 against them, or treading on the slippery surface of the 

 humid branches, go* down earthwards with your nose as 

 pioneer. We presently came to a clearing, where we 

 stopped and seated ourselves on a felled tree to listen for 

 the stag. Twice we had heard his hoarse rumbling roar 

 from afar, as we ascended the hill-side, but now again all 

 was hushed, and we listened and listened in vain. Taking 

 a large sea-shell out of his rucksack * Meier put it to his 

 mouth, and began to imitate that peculiar sound betoken- 

 ing ardour, impatience, and anger, which the stag makes 

 at this season when seeking the hind. It was really a 

 pretty sight ; it had even something classical in it. There 

 the young fellow lay, reclining on the fallen trunk, his 

 hat off, his throat bare, and the coming light playing 

 about the upturned shell, as, Triton-like, he blew into 

 his ocean-horn, and made the air vibrate with the hoarse 

 bellowing. Below, in a vast chasm, were floating thin 

 mists, gently rising upwards to meet and to be dispersed 

 by the sun. On they came like waves ; and it needed 

 no very brilliant imagination to behold an ocean before 

 you, and he with the spotted shell lying on its shore. 

 But no answer came. Once before we had heard, just 



* Rucksack. A square bag or sack of coarse green canvas, used as a 

 knapsack by the peasant generally, and by the hunter to carry his game. 

 A cord runs round the mouth or opening, by which it can be drawn to- 

 gether. From this part a strap passes over each shoulder, and is at- 



