274 OUR FIRST CHAMOIS HUNT. 



snow, there was always an inexorable rock to give us a 

 thump. However, we were now fairly above the chamois, 

 and excitement sustained us in the toil and difficulty of 

 our progress. At length, we reached the cliff whicl) 

 Spiegle had fixed upon, as above our prey. Here we 

 found it impossible to get near enough to the edge to look 

 over, as the fresh-fallen snow threatened to part com- 

 pany with the rock. Crouching down in the snow, we 

 listened*for some hint of the chamois* whereabouts, and 

 had not waited more than a minute, when the faint 

 clatter of a stone, far below, convinced us he was on the 

 move. Creeping along to where the crest of the cliff 

 afforded us a little shelter, we peeped over, and saw that 

 the chamois was standing on the snow-bed, half-way up 

 the cliff. Suddenly, the acute senses of the graceful 

 animal seemed to have caught the taint of a human being. 

 He stood with his head high in the air, and his ears 

 pointed forward. I was about to fire, when, bang ! close 

 to my ear, went Spiegle's heavy rifle, and the chamois 

 bounded away over the bed of snow, and disappeared 

 around the corner, to the right, before either *Mr. Barrill 

 or myself could get a snap. 



Almost mad with excitement, we clambered over the 

 edge of the cliff, and, by jumping and sliding, reached the 

 snow-bed where the chamois had stood. Not a drop of 

 blood tinged the snow, to give us hope, at the place where 



