254 RAMBLES APTEE SPORT. 



there was no cover within one hundred and fifty yards of 

 them ; the only thing to do was to drive them. As 

 I had the longest ranged rifle by far, a Whitworth 

 long carbine, I gave the hunter my glass and I took 

 the dog, going round to windward. My companion 

 meanwhile went to the opposite end of the valley, 

 where the elk would be sure to pass, and concealed 

 himself in a clump of bush. I was quite an hour 

 getting to my station, and waved my handkerchief 

 cautiously above my head to signal my companion. 

 After waiting a quarter of an hour, I leant my rifle 

 over a piece of rock, and mentally vowing any amount 

 of sacrifices to the "Bishop of Bond-street," I aimed 

 at the shoulder of the stag at 200 yards ofi" and pulled 

 the trigger. The bullet struck him rather high, as 

 he was considerably below me, but he dropped before 

 the rest decamped almost. Away they went like the 

 wind, the dog after them ! I watched eagerly where 

 I knew the hunter must be concealed. Will he never 

 shoot ? When pufi" ! went a cloud of smoke, and the 

 foremost doe leaped up in the air, doubled her forelegs 

 under her and fell dead in her tracks. I stood watching 

 the scene, a scene allowed to but few. I unconsciously 

 sung out " hurrah ! splendid ! " and turned to pick up 

 my rifle, when right before me, not fifty yards off", out 

 stalked from a clump of scrub oak, the ivhite elJc of 

 Astoria ! There was no mistake about it, there he was, 

 spotlessly white, and with a head of horns that seemed 

 to my excited eyes at least twice the spread of those 

 of the stag that was lying dead in the valley below. 

 There was no time, however, to waste on sentiment, as 

 he evidently thought something was amiss. I slipped 

 in a cartridge, knelt down on one knee, prayed to 



