A ROYAL HART. 205 



at intervals, his love-song to his harem, his appetite being 

 apparently much affected by his amours. Although com- 

 paratively close, he is much too far from our present position 

 to risk a shot at him whilst there is a possibility of getting 

 nearer. How my heart throbs between hope of a chance and 

 fear lest I may lose it, as we worm ourselves along through 

 the brackens towards the wood, and, on gaining it, creep 

 stealthily on among the bushes towards our noble quarry ! 

 There are some who may say that an old sportsman should 

 never get excited. To put it plainly, this is what is vulgarly 

 called "gammon," or more politely, contrary to human 

 nature. When the pulses cease to quicken at the prospect 

 of bringing down a grand beast, slaying him in cold blood 

 can no longer be called sport. The keener the sportsman the 

 more intense his excitement, although experience may have 

 taught him to keep it under control. But this is no time 

 for moralising. 



At last we get within easy range of the stag, now stand- 

 ing forth alone, snuffing the tainted air as though he had 

 some inkling of danger. But little he recks of its being so 

 near him as he stands there, his royal head held proudly 

 erect, looking quite the " monarch of all he surveys." The 

 bead-sight is on his broad shoulder ; yet so fearful am I of 

 missing him, large and near though he is, that I hesitate for 

 some time before pressing the trigger. Off goes the shot at 

 last, but, to my intense surprise and concern, without the 

 slightest apparent effect on the stag. For a few seconds he 

 stands stock-still, and then with a bound starts down the 

 steep declivity in front of him. Oh the agony of that 

 moment ! Fortunately for me, however, he has taken the 

 open instead of the wooded side of the spur, thereby giving 

 another chance as he rushes headlong down the hill. By 

 great good luck, the second shot catches him high up in the 

 hind-leg ; but he still holds on, with the broken limb dang- 

 ling loosely about, and disappears among the thick brush- 

 wood below. The track where his wide-splayed hoofs have 



