OUR FOUR-FOOTED NEIGHBORS. 345 



the deer, and, stealing from knoll to knoll, again came in 

 sight of the herd. The outskirts of its wide circle had been 

 much broken and deranged by the jousts and expulsions 

 during our absence ; and we saw that it was impossible to 

 get near the better stags without taking the channel of the 

 stream. 



4. We immediately descended into the water and crept 

 up the middle, sometimes compelled to crouch so low that 

 the pools reached our hips, and, as the stones were round 

 and slippery, it was very difficult to proceed without floun- 

 dering and splashing. At length, however, we were with- 

 in the circle of the deer ; there was not a breath of wind, 

 and the least sound was audible in the profound stillness. 

 We slipped through the water like eels, till we came to a 

 little rock, which, crossing the burn, made a shelving fall, 

 which there was no means of passing but by drawing our- 

 selves up the shoot of the stream. With some difficulty I 

 pushed my rifle before me along the edge of the bank, and 

 then, while the water ran down our breasts, we glided up 

 through the gush of the stream and reached the ledge 

 above. 



5. The return of the water, which I had obstructed, 

 made, however, a rush and plash different from its accus- 

 tomed monotonous hum, and I had scarce time to lay flat 

 in the burn when a hind sprang up within a few yards 

 and trotted briskly away, then another, and another. I 

 thought that all was over, and that, in the next moment, 

 we should hear all the clattering hoofs going over the turf 

 like a squadron of cavalry. All remained still, however, 

 and, in a few seconds, I saw the first hind wheel about and 

 look back steadily toward the fall. I was rejoiced to ob- 

 serve that she had not seen us, and had only been disturbed 

 by the unusual sound of the water. She continued, how- 

 ever, anxious and suspicious ; watched and listened ; picked 

 off the tops of the heather ; then walked on, with her ears 



