Sierra Morena 



169 



Later, during a clearer interval, I descried a stag picking a 

 slow and deliberate course down the opposite escarpment. In 

 the abyss below he was long lost to sight but presently re- 

 appeared, coming fairly straight in. Seldom have I felt greater 



confidence in the alignment than when I then fired. Yet the 

 result was a clean miss. While pressing trigger, another shot 

 rang out half-a-mile beyond and the stag swerved sharply ; still I 

 had another barrel, and the second bullet "told" loudly enough 

 as the hart bounced, full-broadside, over the pass. Then he 

 swerved to take the rising ground beyond and, crossing the 

 skyline, displayed the grandest pair of antlers I have seen alive — 



