ff.'

'How do you know that, you foolish fellow?' replied the Emperor,
smiling. 'Make haste and get well, and I appoint you gate-keeper of my
castle of Rambouillet.'

The soldier said no more. His heart was too full of joy and gratitude,
for that was indeed a post of honour.

Some months later the Castle of Rambouillet had a new gate-keeper, an
old wooden-legged sergeant of Sapeurs, wearing the coveted medal on his
well-brushed uniform!

X.

THE CASHMERE STAG.

India is rich in animals of the deer kind. To name only a few, there are
the Sambur, the beautiful Axis Deer, the small, but fierce, Hog Deer,
the Rusa Deer, the Bahrainga Deer, and the noble Cashmere Deer. The
habits of these animals are exceedingly varied. Some live upon the
hills, while others frequent the low lands and the jungles, and are
never seen upon the higher ground. Several of the species are nocturnal,
and are so rarely seen in the daytime that any one might think they were
scarce animals, although they are really very common.

The Cashmere Stag or Deer is one of those which live on the high lands,
upon the slopes of the mountains of Cashmere, Nepal, and the countries
to the north-west of India. It prefers forests and well-wooded country,
in which it finds shelter and seclusion. It rarely descends to the lower
and more open country, and it is in fact so retiring and alert that it
is seldom met with. By day it hides itself in the woods, but in the
early morning it is tempted forth to drink at the lakes and pools which
lie upon the skirts of the forest. It changes its pasture-grounds with
the seasons, climbing the mountains in summer, probably to enjoy the
cool, fresh air of the upper regions, and returning to lower ground in
winter in search of food.

The male is a fine animal, with large branching horns, somewhat like
those of our own stag or red deer, but not quite so large. In a fine and
well-developed specimen the horns will often display sixteen branching
points. The general colour of the stag is a rather dark grey or brown,
with patches of yellowish white upon the haunches, and for some little
distance along the back. The neck of the male is covered with longer
hair somewhat resembling a mane. The female is very similar in colour to
the male, but she is smaller, and has neither horns nor mane.

The Cashmere stag is sometimes called the Nepal stag, and it has also
other names, mostly derived from the localities where it is foun