XXV 
THE SAM BUR 
335 
hilt, and I had struck him just between the 
shoulders. 
“ The dogs, having seen me attack, rushed at the 
stag as he passed by, and at the same moment 
Bertram was seen hanging on his ear. Lucifer 
had him a second later, and the stag, shunning the 
brink of the waterfall, dashed through some thick 
bushes to the left with the dogs holding him, and in 
a moment they disappeared. 
“ I heard a dull heavy sound like the fall of some 
solid body ; upon approaching the spot, I found the 
greater portion of the dogs. They were on the 
brink of a precipice about 30 feet deep, down which 
the stag, with Bertram, Lucifer, and Ploughboy, had 
fallen. Fortunately some dense tufts of bushes 
grew from the sides of the almost perpendicular 
cliff; these had broken their fall, otherwise they 
would have been killed. As it happened, they 
were not only unhurt, but I heard them at bay 
beneath. 
“ By making a circuit of about 100 yards, I dis¬ 
covered a place by which I could descend. The 
dogs had preceded me, and I heard a tremendous 
bay on a ledge of rock which formed a narrow 
terrace or shelf; there was a chasm below, and 
a wall-like cliff above, covered with bush ; down 
this the stag and dogs had fallen, being saved from 
certain destruction by being caught upon the ledge. 
“ Having descended and gained this shelf, I made 
my way towards the spot where the stag was again 
at bay. Upon my approach he immediately saw 
