DEVON AND SOMERSET. 183 



little horned sheep scamper away over the 

 knap, stampeding from the hue and cry. Two 

 or three moments of uncertainty pass as hounds 

 and deer dive into the thicket and for a while 

 are lost to view ; then the cry goes round like 

 wildfire, "See, there thev go," and sure enough 

 one can espv a little herd of horned deer 

 stealing down quicklv over an open spot 

 between the firs on their way to Hookway 

 and Weirwood. Soon the first tufter comes 

 and then another and another — four couple and 

 a-half in all. 



Now glasses are levelled on Weirwood 

 Common, where the deer are just rising into 

 view on the dark purple plain of heath, beyond 

 the stunted scrub of Weirwood, and the leading 

 deer is seen to have a good spread of beam as 

 he pilots the rest in hasty flight over the 

 undulating plain. Sidney is on the move too, 

 cantering along on Mill Hill to cross the Weir 

 Water and come up on Porlock Allotment level 

 with the retreating deer. Swing your field 

 glasses now on vonder brow where the Green 

 Path dips to the Colley Water ; see how the 

 tall red deer are extended as Sidney comes 

 alongside. Now they sink the dip, and Acmead 

 lies in such a haze bevond that one can hardly 

 see the white tufters even in the sunlight glare. 

 Here comes Anthonv bustling up the road on 

 his black tufting pony, with an occasional twang 



