REINDEER STALKING :M7 



Any one oi' lliL- others cuiikl be cowrud hy ihc bead us 

 tlioy lav. but T had to wait till the master stag gave 

 me a fair chance by risinu'. The lawns, of which thoro 

 were two or three, were as impatient as I, and several limes 

 got up and ti'jcil to rouse their dams, but I had to wait 

 more than two hours for my op}>ortuuity. 



Now })crhaps sonu' ma\- think that lying on youi' 

 elbows in the sun is an agreeable way for a lazy man to 

 pass his time. So it is for a few minutes. Try it for 

 an h(Mir. and \'ou will alter vour o])inion. T'^nless your 

 muscles are made of steel they will refuse any longer to 

 carry the weight. Your head wdll be suffered to sink on 

 your hands and \-our tlioughts will wander anywhere until 

 you ]»i'esently forget where you are. That at least was 

 what lia]i[)ened to me. How long I had been dozing 1 do 

 not know, l)Ut somethini;' roused me with a start, and in a 

 moment I realised that I had all but lost my chance. 



The herd had risen, and were ti'otting dr)wn the other 

 side of the knoll, all l)ut the big buck, who ibrtunatelv 

 still remained for his final stretch. As he turned to follow, 

 he gave me a fair broadside for one moment, and I lired. 

 They all went off in a mob together. For a moment 1 

 thouoiit I niu>l have missed him, from the wav he raced 

 after them, but something spasmodic in his gallo[) made me 

 hope. They disappeared behind n ridge, and I anxiously 

 watched f »r them to top the next hill. AVhcn they came 

 in sight, the buck was not with them, and for a certainty 

 there was ami)le cause for his lingering. In a minute he 

 appeared, struggling gallantly with his fate, but the hill was 

 too much for him. an<l he came down on his knees. As I 

 got up to him. he made a vain efibrt to regain hi> Irgs, but 



