196 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



"Where shall we lunch?" was the cry; and the 

 same with dinner. The very beaters seemed to 

 have caught the infection ; and I could plainly see 

 at starting that on this day, at least, they were 

 determined not to lose us, for, believe me, we 

 did not trust them with the knapsacks. It was 

 indeed a jovial day ; but it is needless to say we 

 never saw an elk ; and the only shots that we 

 fired were at an empty bottle on a tree stump after 

 dinner, and very harmless shooting we made of it. 



So much for our second " skall ;" two blank 

 days, and not much more than a week left of the 

 season. 



The next day I walked home for another gun, 

 and on the 27th came back again ; for we had 

 made up our minds to give the woods a good 

 dusting the last three days of the season, and see 

 if our luck would not change. We had fixed the 

 28th for the skall, and I arrived about five o'clock 

 in the evening of the 27th, when I found the party 

 had started, but left word for me to follow them, 

 directly I came up, to one of the keepers 5 houses 

 in the forest, about six miles distant. This was 

 pleasant ; I had already walked twenty- four miles, 

 and I reckoned on a good supper and night's rest 

 to freshen me up for the morning. Moreover, the 

 moon would not rise till two, and to grope my 

 way through these thick woods by twilight was no 



