114 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



I only saw one, and that was more than half hid- 

 den by the stems; but as there was no time to lose 

 I fired. 



" He's down !" cried Solacher ; and we ran forward 

 to get a second shot as the others should come into 

 sight. But they were too quick. We went to the one 

 I had shot, and found to my chagrin it was a kid. This 

 was vexatious, but it was the only one I saw, and be- 

 ing partly hidden, I had not, in the shade of the wood, 

 been able to distinguish it. "While we were cleaning it 

 there was a croaking and a rustling of wings in the 

 air. 



" Ha ! there are the ravens/' said Solacher ; " hardly 

 has the rifle cracked, before those birds are on the spot. 

 Where they come from I can't tell ; for though not one 

 was to be seen before, as soon as anything is shot they 

 appear directly." 



As my companion would have to carry the chamois 

 the whole day, I believe he was not sorry it was only a 

 kid ; for to him this was nothing, and he felt the differ- 

 ence no more than if an additional bullet or two had 

 been put into his rucksack. 



We went up higher, and then kept along the side of 

 the mountain ; we presently crept forward, and looked 

 over into an immense chasm. Solacher drew back with 

 a start. " Chamois are there," he whispered; "but 

 they have heard us. W T hat a pity ! They are off— they 

 are moving," he said, again peeping over. " Ah, the 

 devil take you and your whistling !" he continued an- 

 grily, as one of the herd uttered the shrill long-drawn-out 

 sound that betokens fear. " There they go,— but slowly," 

 and the whole herd passed along the bottom of the stony 

 hollow. 



It was a wild place, that hollow ! We stood on the 



