TRACKING THE WOUNDED STAG. 359 



up to the points even the branches are thick and strong. 

 He would be sure to make for his old summer-haunt : it 

 is dense there and shady, and moreover he would have 

 water. Tomorrow when I see the slot I shall know for 

 certain if it is his : he has a long and narrow hoof and 

 very pointed." 



" Yes/' I replied, " unusually long." 



" That's the stag, you may be sure," continued Franz. 

 " There were two there a year ago, and the slot of each 

 was peculiar. I should know both again easily. One 

 of the stags disappeared, but the other remained, and 

 was always in the same neighbourhood. Besides, if he 

 is hit as you say he would never take to the high ground, 

 but keep in the valley." 



Thus we kept on discoursing, as we sat all eight of 

 us round the blazing logs ; and it was resolved that 

 the next morning the wood was to be scoured in all di- 

 rections to find the stag, which it was not unlikely 

 might already be lying dead. It was long past seven 

 o'clock, and we began to think of turning into the hay ; 

 so leaving the bright fire we crossed over to the loft, 

 and scrambling up the ladder — Feldmann too managing 

 to mount — we were in a minute all ensconced in our 

 warm bed. 



"When you stand on the mountain-side and see the 

 dark forest stretching around you, and call to mind the ra- 

 vines and gullies and declivities which intersect the wide 

 space ; and when you tell yourself in that tract before 

 you a stag is somewhere lying which you are to find, the 

 task seems a hopeless one, and you are almost inclined 

 to give up the attempt. My companions however were 

 confident of success ; and Franz and his comrade set off 

 to scour the woods in one direction, while Hans, who 



