in the clear,
light night. I had to stand still for a minute. In the midst of all
this beauty, man was doing the work of a beast of prey! At this moment
I saw to the north a dark speck move down the height where the mate
and Hansen ought to be. It divided into two, and the one moved east,
just to the windward of the animals I was to stalk. They would get
the scent immediately and be off. There was nothing for it but to
hurry on, while I rained anything but good wishes on these fellows'
heads. The gully was not so deep as I had expected. Its sides were just
high enough to hide me when I crept on all fours. In the middle were
large stones and clayey gravel, with a little runnel soaking through
them. The reindeer were still grazing quietly, only now and then
raising their heads to look round. My "cover" got lower and lower,
and to the north I heard the mate. He would presently succeed in
setting off my game. It was imperative to get on quickly, but there
was no longer cover enough for me to advance on hands and knees. My
only chance was to wriggle forward like a snake on my stomach. But in
this soft clay--in the bed of the stream? Yes--meat is too precious on
board, and the beast of prey is too strong in a man. My clothes must be
sacrificed; on I crept on my stomach through the mud. But soon there
was hardly cover enough even for this. I squeezed myself flat among
the stones and ploughed forward like a drain-cutting machine. And I
did make way, if not quickly and comfortably, still surely.

All this time the sky was turning darker and darker red behind me, and
it was getting more and more difficult to use the sights of my gun, not
to mention the trouble I had in keeping the clay from them and from the
muzzle. The reindeer still grazed quietly on. When they raised their
heads to look round I had to lie as quiet as a mouse, feeling the water
trickling gently under my stomach; when they began to nibble the moss
again, off I went through the mud. Presently I made the disagreeable
discovery that they were moving away from me about as fast as I could
move forward, and I had to redouble my exertions. But the darkness
was getting worse and worse, and I had the mate to the north of me,
and presently he would start them off. The outlook was anything but
bright either morally or physically. The hollow was getting shallower
and shallower, so that I was hardly covered at all. I squeezed myself
still deeper into the mud. A turn in the g