32 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



and if I let him reach the pool unmolested, he will at 

 last be sure to see me, and will dart across and scare the 

 deer, and they and the other stag will then be all off 

 together. The thing, therefore, was not to let him 

 come far down, but to make him return the way he came. 

 So bending forward, and taking off my hat, I waved it 

 before me, muttering between my teeth in anger at the 

 intruder, ( Get back, you rascal, will you, what the deuce 

 do you do here V He stared surprised for a moment, 

 and then, as I suspected, was off up the mountain. So 

 now all was right. But still no stag appeared/' 



"Had he been scared away by the other stag, do you 

 think ?" asked I. 



"No; he was there still; that I was certain of; and 

 as the ground was broken and favourable for stalking, I 

 longed to be after him, and see if it were not possible to 

 get near enough for a shot. But it was too early yet; so 

 I resolved to wait till the wind should blow downwards 

 from the mountain-tops, and then to try my luck. Well, 

 by-and-by, I heard a strange noise : groans, and a clatter- 

 ing and low smothered sounds. Two stags were fight- 

 ing, and the noises were caused by their antlers as they 

 clashed together, and by the intensity and desperation 

 of the struggle. I was off in an instant, and approached 

 the spot where they were, carefully looking round, how- 

 ever, lest by chance I might come upon some outlying 

 deer, or any of the herd that would be standing about 

 while the combat was going on. At last, I see the two 

 in deadly fight : two good stags both, though one had 

 more points to his antlers than the other. They were 

 evidently old stags. There they were on the open space 

 as in the lists for a tournament — their heads low on the 

 ground — and with forehead to forehead bearing down on 

 each other, and going round and round without either 



