THE RED DEER 
broken and irregular, was a high mound within shot of the deer, and by 
watching the misty air currents I could see that the wind did not drift 
to them from this point. It meant a wet and difficult crawl over the flat, 
with eyes glued on the deer all the time, until the last 200 yards, but I 
resolved to try it as the only hope of getting a shot. In the midst of the 
flat was a perfectly open bit of marsh some fifty yards across, which was 
the critical point, but by watching the weather, which was now some- 
what broken, I thought we might steal a moment to cross when the mists 
or uncertain light might help us. A fresh shower was coming on, so we 
started, and having reached the edge of the open place, I waited till the 
snow began, and stole across the flat, inch by inch. When next I looked 
at the deer, mostly lying and keenly watching all below, I saw we had been 
successful, not a hind had moved, whilst the ten -pointer was bellowing 
away with all his might. We had now about 250 yards of peat hags to cross. 
Here and there the cover was good enough, in other places we had to exer- 
cise the utmost caution not to make a false move, for deer pick you up 
very smartly if they are lying down and watching downhill. Once three 
hinds sprang to their feet on the hill nearest to us, and I thought all our 
trouble was for naught, but it was only a three -year -old stag that had 
moved them and tried to cut them out from the herd. The ten -pointer at 
once rushed at him and drove him over the hill above, and the hinds soon 
settled down again. 
On and on we crept, only another 100 yards and we would gain the shelter 
of that rising mound, within shot. Everything seemed in our favour, 
when the atmosphere suddenly warmed, and the sun, glorious at all times, 
except at that moment, burst forth. One felt like some child detected in a 
crime. All our murderous intentions must now be palpable. The lump 
of peat in front of our noses could be no hiding-place. Those hinds staring 
at us scarce 400 yards away were not such fools as to overlook two clumsy 
bipeds lying in the open. But for once they did. Like men, who so often 
commit the same error, they were all gazing intently into the distance, 
looking for some enemy that was, in reality, under their very noses. 
We should have still been lying in that wet hole, shivering with cold, 
had not the sun again become obscured. It seemed an age, however, 
perhaps half an hour, before I dared to move, and then a little mist helped 
us to gain the shelter of the rising mound. After our long wet crawl I 
was now so stiff and cold that I had to try and get up some circulation 
before looking round for the shot, but as the evening was fast approaching, 
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