ALONE ON THE HILLS. 85 



my friend got up the weasel bolted, and he picked up 

 the rabbit near dead. So when he got home he had 

 it at once skinned, and, on carefully examining, found 

 there was only this one wound on the head, which 

 almost confirmed him in the fascinating power of 

 some animals. 



Stoats are worse than weasels, but they are luckily 

 not numerous. I remember of a stoat coming some 

 miles on a winter night, and, after swimming across a 

 small pond, it killed five ducks ; but being tracked 

 back over the snow, the animal was destroyed. 



On the way to the Lodge I saw some well-grown 

 coveys of grouse, and by the time I got my papers 

 from the cache it was near five o'clock. I found 

 Major Duncan still writing, and he told me that the 

 others had gone up the burn ; so I went after them, 

 and about half a mile up found Ward and Fred 

 getting plenty of small trout, and on the way down 

 the burn they caught several of better size. 



To-day I had been trusted with the ordering of 

 dinner, and thought I should go a little out of 

 routine and puzzle them. Fred said that snail broth 

 and curried cat might be expected ; but we did very 

 well. There was green-pea soup and trout; then 

 came a single dish carefully covered no one guessed 



