hardly begun to scrutinise their respective merits when four o f them lying on the flank
nearest to us rose and commenced feeding in ® direction. Grant now urged immediate
action, fearing that any movement would carry them out o f shot; but while he was talking
I saw through my glass the a n t l e r S one particular stag that I felt at once must be mine if
life was any longer to be worth a thought. He was lying in the middle o f the herd with
head and neck only visible above the long grass, and occasionally shaking h is#ead or 'flick.
i«g impatiently at his flanks when the midges became troublesome. And h f g nobly he
carried that head o f his ! how dignified his attitude even when at iMSt-! Here was Royalty,
i f you please, a Royalty impossible to overlook even am o n g all the fine heads presented by
other members o f the herd. Grant was as enthusiastic as myself, and thought a -stalk was
HIDDEN AWAY BEHIND SOME PEAT HAG, HE PASSES MOST OF THE DAY
quite possible, for a line o f broken ground ran round the ridge on the-sum mit o f the corrie
down to within eighty yards o f the herd. Our first manoeuvre then was to advance cautiously
along the Altahourn side o f the crest to a point immediately above the stags, whence we
could readily descend ; but on arriving there an unforeseen obstacle presented itself in the
shape o f a group o f scattered hinds, which had been feeding in a small gully unseen from our
starting-place. I f we took the downward course, these, we saw, would have a full view o f
our movements for the first hundred yards or so, and although the wind was in our favour,
still we could hardly hope to avoid a disturbance w hich might put an end at once to our day s
sport. However, our minds had to be made up at once, for every moment might take the
stags farther away from the spot where we had hoped to get our shot. Using, therefore, the
utmost caution, and taking advantage o f every big stone, grassy knoll, etc., we slid down the
hill, watching at the same time the movement o f every hind, and whenever one o f them
raised her head and gazed about her, we lay perfectly still, wishing in our hearts she had
never seen the light o f this world. The first fifty yards afforded us here and there a little
cover in the shape o f loose stones ; then we suddenly plumped into a big spring which formed
a line for itself down the hillsid e, ending in a marshy burn, where little or no protection could
be obtained. It was one o f the most exciting and most pleasurable stalks I ever enjoyed,
for within 150 yards o f us were half a dozen hinds, in full view nearly all the time, and every
nerve was braced up in the effort to avoid alarming them. A t last, after half an hour of
doubts, hopes, and fears, we gained the coveted standpoint, but only to gaze on the hindquarters
o f the last stag as he fed rapidly away out o f shot, with the herd spread out like a
fan in front o f him. It was a bitter disappointment, but there was hardly time to utter a
naughty word before another scene presented itself. Glancing backward, Grant noticed that
FEEDING NERVOUSLY AFTER BEING MOVED
the hinds were advancing every minute nearer to our line o f retreat, and unless we hurried
up at once, they would get wind o f us and all would be over. So off we started for the top
o f the hill again, taking every step with redoubled caution, as some o f the hinds had already
moved to within sixty yards o f our only covering, and seemed to be more unsettled in their
movements. Happily for us, their attention was mainly directed to the retreating line o f the
stags ; so, though our pace up the hill was twice as fast as that o f our descent, we succeeded
in regaining the summit without a single hitch.
It was now a case o f “ check,” but not “ checkmate,” thanks to Grant’s intimate
knowledge o f the ground and his quick manoeuvres. Our chance o f a shot was but a poor
one, but there was just the hope that some o f the stags might return to their former position
before the light failed; and for even a difficult shot at the noble hart I had seen, I was mad
M 2