234 
WILD NORWAY. 
remaining closely concealed, using all expedition in 
reloading, and awaiting second or third chances. 
Consider the matter from the standpoint of the 
game. They have been feeding, resting, and otherwise 
enjoying life out on those wilds—be they fjeld or forest, 
sierra or alp—undisturbed by man for weeks, it may be 
months. Suddenly from some hidden point amidst 
crag or timber, from some ridge above or rocks below, 
resounds the “ping” of a rifle. Mind you, it is a 
hundred, or a hundred-and-fifty yards away. The 
big buck, or bull, or ram falls dead, and in the same 
instant come echoes reverberating from a dozen crags 
and corries. Nothing is in sight; the tiny puff of smoke 
has vanished or floats along the hill, mingled with the 
light mists of the mountain. Doubt and confusion 
prevail ; the beasts for some seconds—pregnant seconds 
for the hunter—hesitate whither to direct their flight. 
They may even move his way. 
Clearly this is no moment for the rifleman to show 
in sight. Let him rather crouch lower than ever behind 
that sheltering bush or boulder, the block of ice or fallen 
pine, whatever it may be that conceals him, remembering 
that now a search-light of alarmed eyes plays in tenfold 
force upon his hill. But with care he may find oppor¬ 
tunity, for all that, to pick out the second-best beast, 
whatever the game may be—possibly also a third or 
a fourth. 
This, to some, may sound bloodthirsty, but I em¬ 
phasize the point because (in Europe) the big-game 
hunter deserves his chances. He works harder for his 
sport, and often, probably, fares worse than any other 
human being. For days, for weeks, he toils on, never 
