356 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



low near the ground. He has tremendous thick ant- 

 lers . they are not high, but strong, sturdy things like 

 cudgels." 



All this verified what I had thought about the stag 

 being well hit, and I now felt still more sure that with a 

 dog we should soon be exulting over the possession of our 

 booty. One of the men was therefore despatched with 

 an injuuction to make all speed. 



" It is now half past ten : in six hours you can be back 

 again. Lose no time, and start." 



" I shall be here before four," said the man, and was 

 soon out of sight. 



There was plenty of time to think the matter over, 

 and for Hope to weave a brightly-tinted web represent- 

 ing the events that are likely to happen in an hour or 

 two ; but while mentally I saw all lit up by a vivid bow 

 of promise, the real clouds overhead gave signs of bad 

 omen. Low and scowling they came on over the hill- 

 tops, and presently bursting poured down a heavy deluge 

 of rain. Nothing could be more unfortunate : all traces 

 would be effaced from the ground and the scent utterly 

 destroyed. However to repine and be discontented is 

 always the worst that, under any circumstances, we can 

 do. Things might, after all, not turn out so unfortunately 

 as this change of weather seemed to indicate. 



It is not yet four o'clock, and yonder comes the mes- 

 senger at a good pace, with Feldmann in a leash trotting 

 behind him. We were soon in the wood, and the blood- 

 hound was laid on the scent where the stag passed just 

 after the shot. He took it up readily, but he soon grew 

 cautious and occasionally was at a loss what to do. He 

 would stop at times and smell the bushes and low boughs 

 hanging near the ground bordering the path the stag 

 had taken. Thus he tested the correctness of the track 



