LIFE AT ROSE HALL. 45 



where she had been before, and her sharp eyes instantly detected 

 me. Never did unlucky wight, caught in the very act of doing 

 what he least wished should be known, feel, or, I dare say, look 

 so taken aback as I was. I stood motionless for a moment, hop- 

 ing that even HER eyesight might be deceived by my gray dress, 

 but it was too late ; giving a , snort of alarm, she was instantly 

 out of sight. I ran forwards, trusting to be in time for a running 

 shot at some straggler, and came in view of the whole troop gallop- 

 ing away, a tolerably long shot off, but still within range, and 

 affording a fair broadside mark as they went along in single 

 file to gain the more level ground. I of course pulled up, and 

 took a deliberate aim at one of the fat hinds. She afforded me a 

 fair enough chance, but I saw, the moment I pulled the trigger, 

 that I had missed her. The ball struck and splintered a rock, 

 and must have passed within a very few inches of the top of her 

 shoulder. I saw my error, which was that, miscalculating the 

 distance, I had fired a little too high. However, it was too late 

 to remedy it ; so I stood quietly watching with a kind of vague 

 hope that my ball might have passed through her shoulder, though 

 in reality I was sure this was not the case. They never stopped 

 till they reached the very summit of one of the heights that 

 enclosed the valley, and then they all halted in a group for two 

 or three minutes, standing in clear and strong-relief against the 

 sky. After looking back for a short time towards the point of 

 alarm, they disappeared over the top of the hill, and I reloaded 

 my rifle, and then went to examine the exact spot where my ball 

 had struck. Judging from the height it was from the ground, I 

 saw the hind had had a very narrow escape, and muttered to 

 myself, " Not a bad shot after all, though unlucky ; well, I'm glad 

 it was not a fine stag never mind the hinds." It's pleasant to 

 find consolation "rebus in adversis ; " my dog in the meantime 

 scented about a good deal, and seemed to wonder that I had 

 missed. 



I now turned off out of my stony path, and walked across a 

 long tract of easy ground. There were several likely spots in my 

 way, but no deer were to be found ; and an hour before my time 



