em all at one shot by
accident."

"Can it be possible?" exclaimed his friend, as with a look of amazement
he regarded the birds.

There was no doubt about the fact. There they lay, plump and still
warm, with one or two drops of bright red blood upon their white
plumage. Ptarmigan are almost pure white, so that it requires a
practised eye to detect them, even at a distance of a few yards; and it
would be almost impossible to hunt them without dogs, but for the
tell-tale snow, in which their tracks are distinctly marked, enabling
the sportsman to follow them up with unerring certainty. When Hamilton
made his bad shot, neither he nor his companions observed a group of
ptarmigan not more than fifty yards before them, their attention being
riveted at the time on the solitary bird; and the gun happening to be
directed towards them when it was fired, three were instantly and
unwittingly placed _hors de combat_, while the others ran away. This
the survivors frequently do when very tame, instead of taking wing.
Thus it was that Hamilton, to his immense delight, made such a
successful shot without being aware of it.

Having bagged their game, the party proceeded on their way. Several
large flocks of birds were raised, and the gamebags nearly filled,
before reaching the spot where they intended to turn and bend their
steps homewards. This induced them to give up the idea of going
further; and it was fortunate they came to this resolution, for a storm
was brewing, which in the eagerness of pursuit after game they had not
noticed.

Dark masses of leaden-coloured clouds were gathering in the sky
overhead, and faint sighs of wind came, ever and anon, in fitful gusts
from the north-west.

Hurrying forward as quickly as possible, they now pursued their course
in a direction which would enable them to cross the woodcutters' track.
This they soon reached, and finding it pretty well beaten, were enabled
to make more rapid progress. Fortunately the wind was blowing on their
backs, otherwise they would have had to contend not only with its
violence, but also with the snow-drift, which now whirled in bitter fury
among the trees, or scoured like driving clouds over the plain. Under
this aspect, the flat country over which they travelled seemed the
perfection of bleak desolation. Their way, however, did not lie in a
direct line. The track was somewhat tortuous, and gradually edged
towards the north, until the wind blew nearly i