6 FARLEY, 1914 



I soon distanced my companions, I could get no 

 nearer than 200 to 300 yards. After about a 

 mile or two of this there was nothing for it but to 

 risk another shot, which I did, and to my great 

 delight broke his other hind leg, so I was able to 

 get up to him and put him out of his misery. His 

 weight was 14 stone, and I was mightily pleased 

 at having hit him twice when he was moving at a 

 fair pace the first time at 150 yards, and the 

 second well over 200. The last stalk of this first 

 year was the most successful from a trophy point 

 of view in fact, the only good head I got. We 

 had killed a stag in the morning, not a very good 

 beast, and Davie and I had lunched together with 

 great content, and were returning home along the 

 path between the two lochs east, when Davie 

 remarked to me that it was the first year in thirty 

 years that he had never seen deer between the 

 two lochs. That second we rounded a corner, 

 and there below us were a number of beasts. 

 We were flat on our faces in half a second, out 

 came the glasses, and there was the best stag we 

 had seen, surrounded by a number of hinds and 

 one or two small stags ; they were about 350 yards 

 off and a good deal below us, and our stag was 

 lying down. They had not seen us, and we crawled 

 about 80 yards to the edge of the little plateau 

 from which we had seen them, and then Davie in- 

 formed me he could get me no nearer. Full of the 

 confidence of inexperience, I determined to risk the 



