204 WATCHING FOR A STAG. 



long climb each morning before reaching our ground, arrange- 

 ments were made for sleeping out for a few nights high up 

 in the forest, and that evening we found a snug resting-place 

 under shelter of a big pine-tree in a deep sequestered gorge. 

 The "roaring" of stags was now pretty often heard, but 

 only in the thickest parts of the dense forest, where it was 

 almost impossible to get even a glimpse of the animals that 

 spoke. Nothing was seen except two brown bears, which 

 were left unmolested, from fear of disturbing the deer, until 

 the third day. 



It was our intention, on the evening of that day, to return 

 to our camp, with a view to again changing our ground. In 

 the afternoon, during our descent, we found ourselves on a 

 broad and gently sloping spur, on one side of which was a 

 steep-sloping, fern-covered glade — on the other a dense pine, 

 wood. Here we found the tracks as fresh as they were 

 numerous, and the beds in the long grass and brackens looked 

 as though the deer had but recently risen from them. As 

 we had, earlier in the day, heard a stag bellowing far down 

 in the neighbouring forest, we determined to watch the glade 

 from among the long brackens on the outskirts of the cover, 

 in hopes of his taking an airing there in the evening. 



The tall black pines were casting their long-pointed sha- 

 dows over the glade as the sun sank slowly behind them. 

 Still and silent we sat there, keeping vigilant watch, and 

 intently listening for the note of a stag. At last comes the 

 wild and welcome music floating faintly up through the 

 forest. Louder and more harsh grows each repetition of the 

 strain as it draws nearer and nearer, until there is no doubt 

 of its being the animal's intention to visit the glade. Pres- 

 ently a hind comes tripping warily from out the wood. She 

 is almost immediately followed by several others, until at 

 last forth stalks a mighty stag wearing a splendid crown of 

 horn. The hinds soon begin listlessly cropping the grass. 

 They are jealously waited upon by their lord, who, with 

 swelling throat and bristling neck, continues to bellow forth, 



