A FALL HUNTING TRIP. 101 



arrived there to find that Frank and Arnold had re- 

 turned. 



Owing to the necessity of fixing and cleaning the head- 

 skin of the large stag and some o1iie,T>pr^ssiug bit t s rrt !work, 

 we could only make time for halt a day's 'hunting t>n the 

 following afternoon. We set .put/about jwe^dqjck^ id, a 

 westerly direction, aiming for a iocklity 'kri6wh J as 'Ayres' 

 Marsh. I had now set my standard very high, having made 

 up my mind not to fire at any stag unless he carried a really 

 remarkable head. The sun was shining through snow 

 clouds over the wide marsh, making some of its pools glow 

 to gold and crimson. Many companies of deer were in 

 sight, some blurred and in shadow, others gleaming snow- 

 white in the brilliant breaks of light. 



Our sport on that occasion does not demand any de- 

 tailed description, consisting as it did of several stalks and a 

 great deal of observation of distant stags through the tele- 

 scope. We did not see anything " worth giving a gun to," 

 as the Newfoundland expression has it. 



Those were splendid days, their pleasures rendered the 

 more vivid by memories of hunting in less favoured coun- 

 tries. Early in the morning, while the wood in which our 

 camp lay was still an etching in black-and-white, the men 

 were stirring, and soon the warm and cheerful camp fire 

 would be crackling at the mouth of the tent. Followed the 

 sound of Frank's footsteps as he crunched down to the lake 

 edge through the frost and light snow. Then the kettle 

 was boiled and a cup of tea made ; after which I rose to 

 complete the rough toilet of the woods before breakfast was 

 announced to be ready. 



On one occasion, however, this routine was altered. I 

 had just been awakened by hearing the men moving about 

 the fire, and Frank was in the act of pouring out my morning 

 tea, when there was a sound of running footsteps snapping 

 through the frost, and Jack burst through the trees. 



