298 STAGHUNTING WITH THE 



her out of her misery, or she may Hnger for 

 many an agonised week to succumb to the 

 hardships of winter, or again, and this is 

 more frequently the case, she may part entirely 

 with the broken end of the injured limb, and 

 may recover in great measure her health and 

 strength, or the fractured bone may set itself 

 after nature's fashion, and may bear her weight 

 remarkably well after a few short months, so 

 that she may be able to hold her own with 

 hounds, and even give a comparatively good 

 run when at last she meets her fate. Many 

 and many a deer has stood before hounds for 

 an ■ average length of time, that was never 

 suspected to have had all the time a broken 

 limb, until he or she was actually handled. 

 These injuries account no doubt, for the curious 

 uneven slots, and limping treads, that often 

 meet the harbourer's eye when he is tracing 

 deer to their lair. 



The constant habit of following deer, leads 

 many a dweller in the wild west country to 

 be continually noting the hints which every 

 state of the ground conveys in this much 

 hunted country. Here the book of sport is 

 laid wide open, for those who are skilled in 

 it to study and learn and decipher as they go 

 on their wav with both eyes open, and some 

 there are who can not only read, but can read 

 as they run, or rather can follow along the 



