ON THE GANDER RIVER. 205 



head, too, pleased me very much, for though not a handsome 

 one, as the stag was past his prime, its curious shape and its 

 weight made it valuable. Above all, both of us felt that the 

 long run of blank days was at last broken. 



While we were skinning out the head and cutting up the 

 meat a heavy cloud spread over the sky, and a cold and 

 rainy wind blew up through the trees. Evidently we were 

 in for a thunder-shower, and such are often particularly 

 severe in Newfoundland. We therefore hurried the work 

 and were soon on our way to camp. I was leading, but I 

 found myself every now and then looking back with deep 

 satisfaction at the head and horns that Jack was carrying 

 on his shoulders. We arrived just as the storm burst. In 

 descriptions storms almost always break with " a rattle and a 

 roar." In this case it actually did so. First came a blast 

 of wind, tearing off branches and uprooting dead trees ; 

 the blast was followed by deluges of rain and hail. We 

 hurried in beneath our lean-to and tried to start a fire, but 

 the attempt was useless. In the event our failure proved 

 fortunate, for, believing that the fury of the storm and the 

 stinging of the hailstones would probably move any stag 

 that happened to be in an exposed situation, I left Jack 

 struggling with the match-box and walked out to the edge 

 of the thicket with my rifle. 



The hailstones were pelting into the river like bullets, 

 beating up little spurts of water, and it was not possible to 

 see more than a few yards. At length, by degrees, the hail 

 ceased, or rather turned to a soft rain, and the long vista 

 of the river came into View. One glance down that vista was 

 enough, for there in the middle distance, about three hundred 

 yards away, a big stag was just crossing. I have seen many 

 caribou, but none in so beautiful an environment. The 

 water did not reach beyond his hocks, and he was splashing 

 through it at a stately walk. Against the almost absolutely 

 black background of the dark water and dripping woods his 



