66 A SPORTING PARADISE 



found Mac waiting for me patiently upon my 

 return with his piled-up plate untouched. Prob- 

 ably he would have sat for an hour had not a 

 voice whispered : ' How do you like them ? ' He 

 replied with the question : c Have you tasted them 

 yet ? ' I told him I was waiting to hear whether 

 they were properly cooked. Seizing a small leg 

 he commenced to eat, murmuring : ' Most delicate ! 

 most delicious ! ' and suggesting again and again 

 how valuable they would prove for invalids. He, 

 however, did not ask for more, and soon dis- 

 appeared hors de combat. We don't eat frog's 

 legs now, nor refer to the subject. 



" Scarcely had the frogs disappeared when I 

 heard the approach of the hounds, their deep baying 

 sounded almost sepulchral from the virgin forest. 



" Immediately I became alert, examining gun, 

 cartridges, safety-catch, etc., and then listening 

 intently. I gazed on all the deer-runs without 

 making the slightest movement with my body. 

 Once or twice I caught the sound of snapping 

 twigs, but after waiting anxiously for half an 

 hour I concluded that the stag had c broken 

 away.' Another monotonous silence followed, 

 and I had a temptation to fire at a woodcock 

 that sat upon a bough close by uttering his 



