BAD WEATHER. 01 



came rolling on thicker than ever. No question now, 

 however, of going back ; there we would wait all day, if 

 needs be, and we sit straining our eyes and trying to see. 

 Fifty yards off a ptarmigan is croaking ; we are glad to 

 know his whereabouts, so that he may have a wide 

 berth whenever the time does come to make a start, 

 which we postponed until we could get another peep at 

 our quarry, so as to be quite sure of their position ; 

 in the thickest mist deer can always see their pursuers 

 long before they themselves are visible to the weaker 

 optics of poor mortals. At last the wind freshens, the 

 mist parts in fantastic shapes, and we see our quarry 

 feeding up a burn with all their heads well down into it ; 

 flat on our backs, and watching them closely, we begin to 

 punt ourselves down-hill by our elbows. A hind's head 

 is faised ; we are as immovable as the rocks around us ; 

 feeding is resumed, and on we push ; then down comes 

 the mist, and we take advantage of it to advance on foot, 

 but keeping very low, till we judge we shall be within 

 a long shot the next time we can see. A third time 

 the mist lifts, but only to show us the deer had moved 

 up-hill, about a quarter of a mile. It keeps fair, and 

 we crawl steadily upwards ; they are still feeding up 

 the burn, and only the tops of their backs just visible ; 

 little brown specks, which, near as they are, the un- 

 practised eye might easily fail to discover. We are 

 soon about a hundred yards from them ; five paces in 

 front is a big rock behind which we can hide in comfort 

 and wait for a fair chance ; we are close to it, when a 

 hind's head pops up out of the burn, and in a second 

 we are detected. Giving a loud bark of alarm, off she 



