46 ERCHLESS AND FARLEY, 1917 



mined to drive the wood on the last day, Monday, 

 the 15th, taking Roy up with me as a second rifle. 

 We started with the drive above Stone's house, 

 and as Roy and I were proceeding to our ambushes, 

 I saw the head of a good beast about 300 yards 

 ahead of us, lying in the open beyond my ambush, 

 with its little wooden plank for a seat under the 

 larch which commands this opening. I deter- 

 mined to make a detour through the wood and so 

 get nearer, but at that moment he got up and 

 began roaring back to a rival who was roaring 

 in the part of the wood which was just going to be 

 driven; he then walked off and disappeared into 

 the wood where I was creeping along to get up 

 to him, and we saw him no more. But in the 

 meantime his rival appeared in the open and 

 offered a longish shot; he had emerged opposite 

 to where I had left Roy and Susan, and I wondered 

 why Roy had not fired ; he told me afterwards that 

 he thought it would move in my direction, so he 

 left it for me very noble of him. Luckily, I 

 got him all right, and he was a good 8-pointer 

 weighing 14 stone 4 pounds. 



I ought to have got at least two stags at the 

 next drive, the east beat, but missed easy shots. 

 Luckily, they were not very good beasts, so my 

 grief was not as great as it otherwise would have 

 been; and for an excuse I had just begun to feel 

 my vein in my right leg, and was thinking I was in 

 for an attack of phlebitis, which probably " took 



