STALKING IN ITS MOST ENJOYABLE FORM 9 
believed I was steady and on him in the right 
place. Du-ectly I fired he galloped off. "I'm 
thinking you'd better shoot again," said Mac- 
donell. " What's the use," I replied, thinking I 
had shot the stag through the heart. However, 
as I spoke, I did shoot again out of respect to 
Macdonell, whom I knew to be a very experienced 
stalker, and the stag rolled over like a rabbit 
which has been shot in the right place, " Now 
we will see," I said, " where the two bullets went." 
"I'm thinking," said Macdonell, " you missed 
him the first time." " You may be right," I 
replied, " but I don't think so ; one thing I know, 
and that is that if I did and had known it, I should 
probably have missed him with my second shot 
also." On examining the stag we could only 
find one bullet mark, and on skinning him we 
found that one bullet only had struck him, and 
that was through the heart. Macdonell no doubt 
thinks to this day that I missed the stag with my 
first shot, and killed him with my second when he 
was galloping ; but I still have my doubts. The 
moral is that though one sometimes hears the 
unmistakable thud of the bullet striking the 
stag, there are other occasions when it is difficult 
to be certain as to what has happened, and there- 
