310 ANECDOTE OF LATE LORD LOVAT 



had been for so many years deceived by the tactics of 

 ' Square Toes,' from the simple statement made by the 

 lad ; and he did not wish to lose any time in taking his 

 revenge, for he said, ' There's no time to be lost. 

 Come, my lord, this stag is with yon hinds as sure as 

 death. Let us be going.' ' But how on earth can you 

 make out such a thing ?' asked his master. ' Well, my 

 lord,' he replied, ' if you will be starting, to save 

 time I will tell you before we get very far even now ; 

 when we get to yon sky-line where they crossed we 

 shall see '' Square Toes," or I am mistaken, for do you 

 see yon lad says he saw " three ears on a hind." 

 Well, it's just possible yon third ear was a brow-antler, 

 and this canny beast has all this time been doing us by 

 throwing his horns on his back, and gets in amongst 

 the hinds when going over the sky-line.' Lord Lovat 

 was very much delighted with this sharp conclusion, 

 and admired the cuteness of the old stalker more than 

 ever. They all hurried up the next hill, and were just 

 in time to get a view of the deer in the next ' corrie ' 

 before fading out of sight, and to their surprise and 

 delight, there was ' Square Toes ' sure enough, feeding 

 along with his harem. A fine-looking hart in weight, 

 but his head had gone off with age. Up to that time 

 the stag had only been known by his peculiar square 

 track, and had for fifteen years gone by the name of 

 ' Square Toes ' ; and now the excitement of the first 

 sight of him after such a long trial for a shot naturally 

 somewhat acted on the nerves of his noble owner, and 

 he only succeeded in breaking his hind-leg with the 

 first barrel, and missed him with the second barrel as 

 he was galloping off". The remainder of the day was 

 wasted in vainly searching for the wounded beast, and 



