A TAXTAMSIXC (^UKST 289 



Close hy, too, \vi' touiul the iiiiini>lak;il)lc traces of a l»ear. 

 T iiinv HKMitioii liei'e tliat \V(> coiislaiit 1\' iiict \\"il1i sin-li 

 si^'iis again, luii. as ilic liear.s siiciid llicir dax's in some 

 fortress aiuoiii;' llie rocks of tlie ravine, and waiidci' nnix' 

 ai lUH-lit, tliere was not nnicli djaiicc of encountering tliem 

 ill the tlesli. At aii\- rate we iie\'erdid so. Tlie\' apjieai- to 

 feed oil the lierries <)[' ilie ]iiiiij)er. wliidi (dollies ilic higher 

 i-orries (.filie iiiouniaiii. lUil on this JirsL day what cared 

 we for an\- game less nohle than "a stag of fourteen " ? 



There were so^ne slieltered hollows just below wlii<di 

 lookeil likely, and, (lescendinir to a lower level, we ii'ot to 

 the leeward of them and [)roceeded to (|uai1er the ground 

 with the light breeze in our faces. Now "Smoke"" liegins to 

 understand. lie presses forward a, few ])aces and stands 

 in an aiiiiudeas if he were trxing to reinemher something, 

 rerhaps it is t he nienioiA' of a smell sometliim'' like that 

 in a far-olf land. In a moment he appreciates what he 



has 1 II hrdiiuht here for. Mis ears stiffen up into two 



lt|a"k p\' ran I ids. and t here is an inteiil look in his eyes as he 

 lifts his iio>e to ihc wind, and works ii u]i and ilowii with 

 a tossino motion. Then Ic laills on Ins cord, and, as an 

 old sportsman hat h it, 



"When in\- liduiid (lotli str.iiii ii|i(iii good scent, 

 I must coiitt'S.s the same dutli me content." 



W'.' let him Icail. till, in a fwv minutc's. he hrings us to 

 some fresh tr,i<k> oj" that nioiiiing, — a l»ig stag, too, among 

 them. we now took the coiiiliict of allairs into our own 

 lian<ls. and tried to follow the line wliiili the .iniiiiaU had 

 taken, lait tlie\- had wandered hither and ihilher. ami at 

 last we got confused, and then fi-i ihein altogether on 



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