THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
bit of ground covered with giant raspberries; the forest was not so dense 
as usual, nor were the trees so high, so that when day broke the light came 
in quickly. We thought we made too much noise in our ascent, for the stag 
ceased calling as soon as we had come to within 100 yards, and hope died 
when, after half an hour, not a sound broke the silence. 
Then Istopuk did a clever thing. Arrived at the spot where the deer 
had been standing, he quickly noticed that the stag had left his hinds and 
moved oif upward, whilst they had gone downward. There was only a 
small wet place to show him the spoor, but he struck off at oce like an 
hound on the track. We followed it for perhaps 200 yards, with the breeze 
blowing freshly, when suddenly the stag roared, as it seemed, right in our 
faces. I crouched down and at once made out the neck and left shoulder 
of a big stag, and taking as careful an aim as the bad position would allow, 
fired. As I was turning the lever to slip in another cartridge I felt my right 
hand seized by the excitable Istopuk, who covered it with kisses. Then he 
knelt down and embraced my legs. He had seen the bullet strike the right 
place. A Scottish stalker does not do these things, because, firstly, his 
emotions are under greater control, and, secondly, he has more than one 
stag shot on his beat in three years. Perhaps if Donald enjoyed experiences 
similar to those of the Galician hunter — and we may add the fact that our 
friend, Mr Istopuk, had not tasted a bit of fresh meat since the previous 
autumn — he, too, would like to kiss you. 
After this display of touching emotion, I ran forward and soon heard 
the welcome sound of falling pebbles right below us, and running down- 
hill perceived the forelegs of a big stag waving in the air. The bullet had 
struck him in the heart, and he had plunged forward about fifty yards and 
rolled till brought to anchor by a small spruce. Our first kill was a beast 
of tolerable proportions, about thirty stone British weight. It was, as I 
should say, nearly adult, but, alas ! its horns were very poor for so fine an 
animal, and I had hoped that one who made so much noise would have 
carried finer trophies. In Austria such a head of nine points and 36 inches 
long is designated a “ Sneider ” (tailor), but in Scotland it would have 
been voted one of the best of the season. 
Istopuk was full of joy and politeness. First of all he pulled a spray of 
spruce and, dipping it in the blood of the fallen animal, signed to me to 
place it in my hat, doubtless to follow the old country custom and to 
show the men at the koliba that a “ hart of grease ” had fallen. Then he 
cut out the tusks and presented them to me on his hat with a low bow. 
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