THE RED DEER 
he generally has an overlapping flap of skin on the skull at the outside edge 
of the eyes. Such a man generally listens a great deal more than he talks, 
but when he does talk he is worth listening to. Observation, too, is a mental 
training as well as an indispensable adjunct in that it creates a sense of 
humility and that is a commodity not too plentiful amongst the young men 
of the present day. In comparing the vast scheme of Nature and its bene- 
ficial workings with our lives — often petty and artificial — a man of intel- 
ligence must see how much greater and better the simplicity and truth 
of outdoor things are than the ways of courts and camps. Even the archaic 
prejudice and ignorance of those who direct public schools is slowly break- 
ing down, and this may be regarded as a hopeful sign. At Marlborough 
they now give prizes and commendations to the boy for the very things 
I used to be swished for. Times are changed indeed when my own son, a 
public schoolboy, goes catapulting with his housemaster and shows 
him how to set traps for small mammals. 
Schoolmasters, who formerly treated all boys alike and regarded any 
boy who did not fit in the ordinary scheme of things as a pariah and an 
outcast, now give lectures on “ Nature Study.” They see that a boy does 
not necessarily absent himself from his fellow creatures to do mischief but 
simply because he may have a mind that loves the beauties of Nature 
better than the more commonplace pleasures of games. It is good for a 
man to spend the greater part of the year with the best and cleverest of his 
fellow creatures, but it is equally good that he should spend a portion of it 
alone with Nature. After play in the open a man is ready to attack the 
serious battle of life with vigour, and in this age of rush and fierce com- 
petition he requires all the strength he can get. 
It will be found, therefore, that big-game hunting, or, if you cannot 
have that, deer -stalking, is not entirely a selfish pleasure, but is also one 
if not the best of all physical and mental trainings for the healthy man. 
In the first place, it is necessary that the beginner should attend rigidly, 
and follow all that the stalker tells him to do, for his advice is usually 
quite reliable; and though he may make mistakes, as all of us are apt 
to do, yet faith in one’s mentor is one of the first principles of learning. 
” Your stalker,” as the late Lochiel said, ” is often more amusing than 
a professional dining-out wit,” and, if he finds you are in real earnest, 
will take the deepest interest in teaching you the game. He will show 
you, first of all, after finding your deer, the sort of places where you may 
expect to find them. He will make you use your glass so as to note the 
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