104 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI. 



They never stopped till they reached the very sum- 

 mit of one of the heights that inclosed the valley, 

 and then they all halted in a group for two or three 

 minutes, standing in clear and strong relief between 

 me and 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 mean time 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 I 

 arrived at the trysting-place, which was a pecu- 

 liarly shaped large rock, standing in the midst of a 

 great extent of ground covered with grey stones, 

 and rocks of a similar description, but all much 

 smaller. The rock itself rejoiced in a Gaelic name 

 signifying the " Devil's Stone." It was a curious 

 spot, — a wide and gentle slope of a hill perfectly 



