DEER STALKING. 109 



turned to the eastward, and crept forward through the bog, 

 to enable them to come in upon the flank of the hart, who 

 was lying with his head up- wind, and would thus present his 

 broadside to the rifle when he started; whereas, if they had 

 gone in straight behind him, his haunches would have been 

 the only mark, and the shot would have been a disgraceful 

 one. Now came the anxious moment. Everything hitherto 

 had succeeded; much valuable time had been spent; they 

 had gone forward in every possible position : their hands and 

 knees buried in bogs, wreathing on their stomachs through 

 the mire, or wading up the burns; and all this one brief 

 moment might render futile, either by means of a single throb 

 of the pulse in the act of firing, or a sudden rush of the deer, 

 which would take him instantly out of sight. Tortoise raised 

 his head slowly, but saw not the quarry. By degrees he 

 raised himself an inch higher, but Peter plucked him sud- 

 denly by the arm and pointed. The tips of his horns alone 

 were to be seen above the hole in the bog, no more. Eraser 

 looked anxious ; for well he knew that the first spring would 

 take the deer out of sight. A moment's pause, when the 

 sportsman held up his rifle steadily above the position of the 

 hart's body ; then making a slight ticking noise, up sprang 

 the deer as instantly the shot was fired, and crash went the 

 ball right against his ribs, as he was making his rush. 

 Sandy now ran forward with the dogs, but still as well con- 

 cealed by the ground as he could manage. 



" We must louse a dog, sir, or he will gang forrat to the 

 hill." 



" Let go both of them ; it will be a fine chance for the 

 young dog ; but get on a little first and put him on the scent, 

 the deer is so low in the bog that he cannot see him." 



Eraser now went on with the hounds in the leash, sinking 

 and recovering himself, and springing from the moss-bogs, 

 till the dogs caught sight, and they were slipped; but the 

 fine fellow was soon out of the bog, and went over the top of 

 the Mealown. On following over the hill, the voice of the 

 hounds broke full upon the stalkers, and they saw the magni- 

 ficent creature standing on a narrow projecting ledge of rock 

 within the cleft, and in the mid course of a mountain cata- 

 ract; the upper fall plunged down behind him, and the water 



