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eard the crunching of his hoof,
- saw the branches of one antler.
- Softly then among the boulders
- I crept forward on my belly.
- Crouched in the moraine I peered up;-
- such a buck, so sleek and fat,
- you, I'm sure, have ne'er set eyes on.
ASE
- No, of course not!
PEER
- Bang! I fired!
- Clean he dropped upon the hillside.
- But the instant that he fell
- I sat firm astride his back,
- gripped him by the left ear tightly,
- and had almost sunk my knife-blade
- in his neck, behind his skull-
- when, behold! the brute screamed wildly,
- sprang upon his feet like lightning,
- with a back-cast of his head
- from my fist made knife and sheath fly,
- pinned me tightly by the thigh,
- jammed his horns against my legs,
- clenched me like a pair of tongs;-
- then forthwith away he flew
- right along the Gendin-Edge!
ASE [involuntarily].
- Jesus save us-!
PEER
- Have you ever
- chanced to see the Gendin-Edge?
- Nigh on four miles long it stretches
- sharp before you like a scyth
