A ONE-HORNED STAG 21 



one horn had 5 points; there was only a lump 

 where the other should have been, so he had 

 evidently been injured or wounded in previous 

 years. As we were on our way home, Fraser asked 

 me if I would let him test my rifle at the target 

 next morning, as he could not understand my 

 shooting. Of course I gladly acquiesced, as 

 neither could I nor Matheson ! When I met him 

 next morning, in reply to my anxious query, " Oh 

 yes, sir," said he, " no wonder you kept missing, 

 your rifle is dropping over a foot at 100 yards !" 

 And I in my foolish confidence in my success of 

 the two previous years had never thought to test 

 it at the target. I had no target then at Balblair 

 and ammunition was a bit scarce owing to the war ; 

 but such idiocy is scarcely credible in the face of such 

 slight obstacles, and it makes me shudder now to 

 think of the agony my folly caused me. How- 

 ever, if it is a warning to any fellow-stalker, I 

 did not suffer in vain. 



September 30th. We were a party of five, Own 

 Doll and her husband, Herbert Parbury (f amiliarly 

 known as Pilly ), and dear old Merton Barker having 

 arrived by the mail, so we didn't get up to Farley 

 till nearly 1 o'clock, and we decided to drive 

 Farley Wood. We lunched behind Matheson's 

 house, and whilst partaking of my frugal bap it 

 struck me that three rifles were one too many for 

 the wood, so I called Matheson and asked him if 

 he had seen any deer on the West Hill in the 



