304 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



were not above taking a hint, for we beat for them 

 next week in vain. 



An hour or so later we started to walk to our 

 new post, not a furlong distant on the Mushroom 

 Eidge, but we made a long circuit to avoid the 

 bad going. I stood on the saddle itself, having 

 his Excellency below me, and the other two guns 

 above. The beat was uneventful, and it was not 

 till the beaters were close to us that the bang, 

 bang, banging of a repeating rifle assured me it 

 was not to be a blank. I must say I felt rather 

 nervous, as I could hear the repeating action 

 rattling away to my unprotected right. I much 

 object to these weapons, for the reason, among 

 others, that the user is apt to be carried away 

 by the facility of firing into continuing after the 

 game has crossed the zone of danger to the other 

 guns. In this case it was not so, and after the 

 sixth shot a voice called out, " Obachtl " (" Look 

 out"). "A wounded bear for certain," I thought; 

 and a minute later I descried a diminutive form 

 coming along towards me. " Female with cubs," 

 was my next thought ; but directly afterwards 

 I got a clearer view, and saw it was a tiny 

 chamois. The kid passed me not three yards 

 away, panting with fear and exertion, but never 

 saw me. This, it was obvious, could not have 

 been the object of such an expenditure of ammu- 

 nition. A minute later a shot rang out to my 

 left, and then the beat came to an end. 



