GOLOVINSKY. 119 



less in the chase, becomes such a silent, self-con- 

 tained being. The whole chase is a school for 

 silence and self-restraint. Should you tread care- 

 lessly, a twig breaks and your chance is lost ; 

 should a thorn run right up under your nail from 

 end to end, you must not complain ; and should the 

 bitter blows dealt you in the face by the rebound- 

 ing twigs, or the tearing and strangling of the 

 thorny creepers, at last extract an exclamation, your 

 chance is over for the day. 



For over an hour I bore all the malice of the 

 forest fiend silently and uncomplainingly. But at 

 last, in an evil moment, a long trailing loop of 

 thorny vine hooked me under the nose, and pulling 

 up that tender member to an unusual angle, held 

 it firmly hooked in its painful position. Then I 

 fear the wrath within me boiled over ; and as I re- 

 leased my mutilated proboscis, I spoke unadvisedly 

 with my tongue. Hardly was the imprecation out of 

 my lips when there was a short sharp snort, and a 

 black object flashed past me downhill at a hundred 

 miles an hour. A quick snap- shot failed to stop 

 him, and so I passed on, reflecting that my little 

 explosion had cost me probably the only game 1 

 was doomed to see that day. 



But this lesson taught me caution, and a short 

 half-hour afterwards, whilst I was creeping noise- 

 lessly along a kind of natural cutting, I was sud- 

 denly aware of a big black thing moving in the 



