SEPTEMBER 223 



sight of the deer, but at a point well above them. The 

 ground is very steep and rough here, and we begin 

 slipping down feet foremost through the snow, careful 

 above everything not to dislodge any loose stones. A 

 small pack of ghost-like ptarmigan rise close at hand, 

 the old cock uttering his peculiar note between a purr, 

 a chuckle, and a crow. It is well they are not grouse, 

 which would have flown down the hill, and the game 

 would probably have been at an end. The ptarmigan 

 wheel upwards, and no harm is done ; when we arrive at 

 a convenient ledge and peer over, there are the beasts 

 still, about three hundred yards distant. The rifle is 

 withdrawn from the cover, and the downward crawl is 

 resumed ; far more cautiously now and by inches at a 

 time, because we can only trust to avoiding detection 

 by means of the closeness in hue of our garments to 

 the ground, and by reason that deer always keep a 

 sharper lookout below and around than they do above 

 them. Fifty yards is traversed in safety; suddenly a 

 little squall of wind puffs up behind us ; in an instant 

 every deer's head is in the air ; they draw together in 

 a clump, looking anxiously around, then begin to file at 

 a trot along the mountain side. The stalker thrusts 

 the rifle into my hands. 



'Put up the 200 yards sight,' says he hoarsely. 

 * There, take him, the second one ah, he 's covered ! ' 



An officious hind has interposed her carcase between 

 me and her antlered lord; the herd turns down the 

 hill, offering nothing but a lot of bobbing sterns, then 

 suddenly wheel to the left, and lengthen out into a 



