92 DEER-STALKING. 



goes up-hill, the rest following ; last of all are the two 

 stags, offering a fair three-quarter side shot. They are 

 going at a fast "slinging" trot, and although rather 

 difficult shots, they should certainly be killed, one at 

 any rate, if not both ; but my two barrels are emptied 

 in vain ! " You were over him each time, sir ; but the 

 mist is going, and maybe we will get a better chance 

 presently." So says Donald. And thinking a great 

 deal, but saying little, I merely reply, "Then go ahead, 

 and let me see if I can do better." 



The corrie being a very large one, we sat down and 

 spied the opposite face and tops ; finding nothing, we 

 crossed it' in a good hour's hard climbing, which was 

 well rewarded by finding a solitary stag in a very small 

 corrie. As Donald shuts up his glass with a snap, 

 his face brightens as he murmurs, " If he stays where 

 he is, sir, you will get a very fine chance." A retro- 

 grade movement is executed, and then after a study 

 of the wind and the ground, we find we can walk 

 almost right up to him. Off we go at best pace for a 

 short mile, and our quarry should be ju&t over the top 

 of the small hill we are about to ascend ; we mount it 

 quietly, so as not to be out of breath when we come 

 to the summit. Only some seventy yards remain to 

 be climbed, when, to our dismay, a single sheep 

 sprang out of a hole almost at our feet, and galloped 

 off as fast as he could in front of us. As soon as 

 he has topped the sky-line we race after him; to 

 have started before would only have frightened him 

 more and made him run faster ; but we reach the top 

 only to find the sheep standing where the stag had 



