THE SURGEON OF THE DEER FOREST 213 
got a good view of the beasts I noticed that 
the stag with one horn was limping sHghtly, and 
it flashed through my mind that he was almost 
certainly the stag which I had wounded in the 
previous season, particularly as he was the same 
colour and the horn seemed to me to be very 
similar to what I recollected of the horns of 
the wounded stag. Whilst these thoughts 
were rapidly passing through my mind, Sandy 
whispered, " Don't take the stag with one horn, 
sir, but the yellow stag on the right which is a 
much better beast." 
I replied by shooting the dark-coloured stag — 
this time in the right place. 
" You've shot the wrong beast ! " said Sandy. 
I said, " Oh, no I haven't. You were with me 
last time I fired my rifle, and I then fired it at 
that very stag ; let us have a look at him and see 
if I'm not right." 
On examining the stag we found that low 
down on his near hind leg the bone had evidently 
been fractured just above the fetlock, but had 
healed completely and set in the most wonderful 
way. This, of course, was what had caused the 
limp which I had noticed, and also the absence 
of the horn on the other side of the head. After 
