262 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [cuar. ««xtv. 
on the other side, in case the deer crossed the top, and went to 
bay in any of the burns that were within his view, and after a 
slight demur, rather at the proposer than at the proposal, Donald 
started off, with his “‘ dooble barrel ” still carefully swaddled up 
under his arm. 
Malcolm and I proceeded carefully, though with great ease, 
till we got into the burn ; I led Oscar, while Bran was under his 
guidance—we waded and scrambled with no great difficulty, ex- 
cepting that now and then Oscar was a little annoyed at not being 
close to his master, as both dogs seemed perfectly aware of what 
was going on, and in momentary expectation of seeing the deer. 
Never was ground more favourable: till we were within four 
hundred yards of the deer, we had scarcely occasion to stoop our 
heads. Having come at length to rather a difficult pass, Mal- 
colm asked me to look up carefully, that we might know exactly 
where the deer were, while he held the dogs. Raising my head 
gradually, I looked through a tuft of rushes, and saw first the 
horns of the stag, and then the heads of five of the hinds; they 
had lain down in the long heather, near the spot they had been 
feeding on. But where were the remainder of the herd? J 
looked for two or three minutes in vain, keeping my head per- 
fectly motionless. Presently, however, the rest of the deer ap- 
peared from amongst some broken ground, a hundred yards 
higher up the hill. than the others. Having looked anxiously 
round them, they all dropped quietly down to rest, with the ex- 
ception of one lanky-looking hind, who stood motionless on a 
small hillock, with her eyes and ears turned with great attention 
in the direction of Donald’s place of ambuscade: she evidently 
had some kind of suspicion of danger from that quarter, though 
she had not yet quite made up her mind as to the reality of it. 
I lowered myself as gradually as possible, and looked back at 
Malcolm. He was kneeling on one knee with a dog held in 
each hand, the dogs themselves were a perfect picture, as they 
stood, with the most intense expression of anxiety, watching my 
movements, and snuffing the air in the direction in which I had 
been looking; the wind was too light, however, for them as yet 
to scent the deer. As they stood motionless, and scarcely draw 
ing their breath, I could plainly see their hearts beating with 
anxiety and eagerness ; I explained the position of the deer to 
