86 CHAPTER XIII. 



It had taken time for all this. It was now after two o'clock. After 

 this stag had been attended to and drawn to where signals could bring 

 the gillies with the pony to take him further and then home, I asked 

 Donald if he thought it would be possible to get another stag before 

 dark; a stag with a good head; not necessarily a grand one, but a 

 representative one, which I could have mounted and take back to 

 America with me. He would promise nothing except to do his best. 



The weather was very thick by now and it was impossible to spy 

 successfully for any considerable distance. We therefore had to move 

 rapidly from place to place, covering ground with our feet that we 

 might have swept with the glasses if the weather had been better. We 

 came quickly to trotting, because it was apparent dark would descend 

 early and Donald was as eager as I for that seventh and last stag, 

 with the fair head. 



Just like looking for anything else that you particularly wish to find 

 our search for a good stag on this afternoon seemed doomed to failure. 

 Here and there we went, trotting often, actually running downhill 

 frequently, and for this kind of exploring covering a really large 

 amount of territory, but nowhere did we see the stag we sought. 

 Then at Donald's suggestion we went down upon the path and started 

 in the direction of the Lodge. He felt we would have an opportunity 

 there to make more distance in less time and could quite as reason- 

 ably expect to get sight of a stag from vantage points along the trail 

 as from any others. 



We had gone perhaps a mile down this trail and were within half 

 an hour of dark when Donald sat down upon a heather bank to spy. 

 While his glass was glued to the landscape I heard a stag roar. You 

 will remember the rutting season had commenced a day or two before 

 and the first symptoms of it were now in evidence. Quickly the 

 Scotchman looked up from his spying and said, "Where wad that 

 staug be, General?" 



I replied; "Just over there, Donald, about half a mile in that di- 

 rection. Look and see if you can find him." He turned the glass 

 toward where I pointed. "Well, I queried, crisply," "do you see him, 

 do you see him?" 



"No, sir. I see no staug, but I do see two hinds." "Well, Donald," 

 I instructed, "it's no use looking any longer for the stag. He's there, 

 if the hinds are there. Is there any chance to stalk him,?" 



