154 HUNTING CAMPS. 



started in company with Geoffrey Gathorne- Hardy, he of 

 the right and left, who had come down the valley the 

 previous evening, bringing with him news of a fine bull 

 killed by his brother. 



The sun was high when we came in sight of the saeter, a 

 solid log hut roofed over with turf on which grew long grass 

 and flowers that waved in the wind. 



After visiting it we climbed over the hill and came out 

 up on the fjeld beyond it ; here Bismarck took a " luft " 

 and led us to the fresh tracks of a cow and a calf, which 

 we saw again later among the trees of a neighbouring right. 

 The dog was pulled off the trail and taken, close hauled, in 

 another direction. We next entered a grove of young 

 birches, which drew blank, but emerging from it Bismarck 

 began to show interest and to sniff the wind that was blow- 

 ing down the farther cliff. It was most curious to watch 

 him from the instant he lost his indifference. As owing to 

 the unsteady breeze it was impossible to locate the elk 

 immediately, we sat down to give Bismarck time to in- 

 vestigate and to think it out. He settled very quietly on 

 his haunches, the thick white and grey hair on his neck 

 bristling a little, and the muscles of his nose twitching and 

 working. At first the airs were light, but presently followed 

 a stronger gust, at which Bismarck rose and began to lead 

 away resolutely nearly up-wind, under a sky already dark- 

 ening for storm. 



Peder, of course, whispered great expectations in his 

 broken words, and sincerely I hoped that this time they 

 would be justified by events, though to tell the truth I 

 was doubtful, for the hound's nose was so extraordinarily 

 fine that he had often led us a mile to an elk-trail, and I 

 feared that in the present instance history might once again 

 repeat itself. However, I was happily disappointed, for at 

 the end of half an hour I caught a glimpse of the hind- 

 quarters of an elk, the rest of the body being screened from 



