WOUNDED STAG PASSES CLOSE TO CAMP 203

distance to be covered to pick up his trail the following
morning would not be so far.

For the next half-hour I kept going at a fair pace
without bothering to take any precautions, as there was
not the slightest chance of his again stopping until he had
got away ahead. The going was fairly good, too; it was
just rolling hillsides with but little timber, but here and
there were depressions where there were small groves of
young fir trees and occasionally patches of bush.

It must have been nearly a mile before the stag abated
his pace at all, but even then, after slackening down to
a trot and once in a while to a walk, he would again break
off into an easy canter. Once it looked as if he had an
idea of taking another rest on the top of a steep hill as
he walked for quite a way and changed his direction
still more to the left. But evidently he thought better
of it and kept on. This move fortunately now made the
line head directly back to the camp.

Another half-hour went by. By that time it was
rapidly getting dusk, but my camp was not more than a
quarter of a mile ahead of me and the stag had by that
time probably passed it, perhaps even in sight of it. Now
my camp was situated on a narrow bench just above a
small stream. On that side the hill rose in a series of
slopes of easy grade, but on the opposite side it was much
steeper, and though there were some benches over there
they were so narrow that it was possible to view a big
extent of the sidehill. Thinking that by getting into a
position where I could spy the opposite hill I might sight
my stag as he went up the other side, I hurried, as the
light was failing fast.

It was not until I was in sight of my camp, which was
about two hundred yards farther down the hill, that I
sat down and took out my glasses. At first nothing was
to be seen and I was just on the point of going when I
spotted something moving among a rather thickish clump
of trees, and on watching it carefully finally made it out
to be a deer: whether it was my stag or not was not
to be told as the light was too poor, but the animal looked