had no book with him; the keeper and the gillie,
having withdrawn themselves, were exchanging confidences in their
native tongue. His clothes were wet and cold and clammy; Percy
Lestrange's flask appeared to afford him no comfort whatever. And of
course the longer he brooded over the chances of hit or miss, the more
appalling became the responsibility. How much depended on that fifteenth
part of a second! He was half inclined to say, "Here, Roderick, I can
bear this anxiety no longer. Let us get as near the deer as we can;
sight the rifle for a long distance, you whistle the stags on to their
legs--and I'll blaze into the thick of them. Anything to get the shot
over and done with!"

Indeed, this intolerable waiting was about as bad a thing as could have
happened to his nerves; but it did not last quite as long as the keeper
had anticipated; for about two o'clock Roderick ascertained that the
stags were up again and feeding. This was good news--anything was good
news, in fact, that broke in upon this sickening suspense; had Lionel
been informed that the deer had taken alarm and disappeared at full
gallop, he would have said "Amen!" and set out for home with a light
heart. But, by and by, when it was discovered that the stags had gone
over the ridge--one of them remained on the crest for a long time,
staring right across the valley, so that the stalkers dared not move
hand or foot--when this last sentinel had also withdrawn, the slouching
and skulking devices of the morning had to be resumed. Not a word was
spoken; but Lionel knew that the fateful moment was approaching. Then,
when they began to ascend the ridge over which the stags had
disappeared, their progress culminated in a laborious crawl, Roderick
going first, with the rifle in one hand, Lionel dragging himself after,
the gillie coming on as best he might. It was slow work now. The keeper
went forward inch by inch, as if at any moment he expected to find a
stag staring down upon him. And at last he lay quite still; then, with
the slightest movement of his disengaged hand, he beckoned Lionel to
come up beside him.

Now was the time for all his desperate and summoned calmness. He shut
his lips firm, breathing only by his nose; he gradually pushed his way
through the tall, withered grass; and at last, when he was almost side
by side with Roderick, he peered forward. They were startlingly near,
those brown and dun beasts with the branching antlers!--he almost shrank