GALICIA, 1910 
On October 5 'I rode three hours to the koliba of Pitseredna, having a 
roving commission to hunt where I liked in the great Doboshanka Valley, 
and to make my way in four days’ time over the mountains to Tartarow, 
a distance of twenty-eight miles. 
Prince Henry had given me a huge tract of country to roam about in, 
and if the stags had roared I should have been at a loss to know where to 
go, as there were plenty of deer everywhere; but hardly a sound was to be 
heard, and one place was as good as another. As my hunter, Pietro Gudla, 
accompanied me, and at three we left the koliba for the evening hunt on 
Pit-Fededzyl. I had little hopes of seeing anything, as the evening was wet 
and cold and the darkness would soon envelop us; and yet it never does to 
funk the work, for the most unpropitious day may turn into the most suc- 
cessful. We toiled through the wet raspberries and up over Fededzyl, where 
in the previous year we had had such exciting hunts. Away up to the 
mist -enshrouded Polanka above, Pietro led the way as if some grim purpose 
occupied his mind. Pietro was a hard taskmaster and walked with a 
springy, active step, having no mercy towards the miserable creature 
that toiled with panting lungs in his wake. It was a race between time and 
light, for Pietro now confided to me he thought he knew where a stag would 
come out to feed on the green slope above, and that we must go there at 
once. Once on the high alp we fairly crawled along the edge of the trees, 
in fact, we went so quietly that we crept within twenty -five yards of two 
splendid cock capercailzies enjoying their evening meal of berries. They 
crouched to the earth and did not rise as we passed onwards. A moment 
afterwards Pietro fell to the earth like a man shot. I did the same, and, 
peering downwards through the mist saw a huge hind with cocked ears 
regarding us fixedly. She barked loudly and took a step or two forward. I 
fancy she had not quite made us out, for she continued to stand and bark at 
intervals for half an hour; for all that time we remained rigid, whilst a cold, 
merciless rain beat upon the backs of our necks. 
At last she turned her back upon us, and we at once dived into the shelter 
of three spruce trees, and when she looked again I knew we were safe from 
wind and sight. Gradually her form became more and more indistinct. 
I looked at my watch — it was five o’clock. In ten minutes all would be over 
and as yet we had not heard a sound. Yet Pietro seemed inspired that 
evening, for when a magnificent challenge welled up from the forest below 
he seemed to take it as a matter of course. Acting as a man does who 
has seen the same sight before and was only repeating that which was 
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