CHAPTER III 



THAT MAINLAND STAG 



OLE had crossed the fjord in an open boat to tell us 

 that the stag was a full royal, with two good 'crowns' 

 and a wide and heavy head. He had been seen feed- 

 ing at dawn only a week ago on the grass at the old 

 saeter near the lake, close to a thickly-wooded glen 

 that ran clear up the mountain-side to the heather- 

 covered f jeld overlooking the sea. 



Our imagination was fired by Ole's story, and our 

 lust for blood was fairly roused. Hitteren stags were 

 well enough in their way, of course. We knew them 

 well, and for many seasons had taken toll of their 

 number, as numerous fine heads now adorning our 

 walls at home testify. These same heads are pleasant 

 reminiscences of the chase in the forests and f jelds 

 of the island deer-forest we had known and loved so 

 long. But an old mainland stag, mark you, with 

 5 inches of fat on his great round haunches and a 

 full royal head of dark rough horn, whose beam and 

 span told of luxurious feeding on the fjeld grasses 

 of the Throndhjem Amt was quite another matter. 

 Here was a beast worth much extra trouble to obtain. 

 We had occasionally seen and envied a good main- 

 land head, shot by some native, perchance, on an 



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