222 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
direction taken by the stag, I much feared that it 
would escape should the hound lose sight of it 
among the numerous torrent-beds between us and the 
river Bruar. I knew Oscar to be thoroughly good, 
but although a fleet and powerful hound, he had 
been trained, like all others, to bring a wounded deer 
to bay, but not to seize. This always appeared an 
absurdity to me, but it was a rule of the forest 
(Blair-Athole). If the deer were determined to 
make for a certain point, there was nothing to stop 
it; the only chance lay in its being pressed so closely 
by the hound that it would turn to bay in some 
favourable locality. 
I could run like a dog in those days, and the 
hardy gillie and myself hurried across the heavy 
ground for about a mile, making for the direction 
where the stag and Oscar had both disappeared. 
The level swamp drained into many burns ; these 
had cut deep clefts in the slopes which inclined 
towards the lower country. We had lost all clue 
to the whereabouts of both stag and hound, and 
after running for nearly a mile beyond the swamp 
where we had last seen them, we halted to listen, 
in the hope of hearing the deep voice of Oscar with 
the stag at bay. 
Suddenly, to our surprise and disgust, we 
observed a white object in the distance returning 
in our direction; this was Oscar, having lost his 
game. 
Having had many years’ experience, I felt certain 
that the stag had thrown the hound off by running 
