ld enough to take care of himself, and
it was time for him to be making his own way in the world. There were
plenty of young deer of his own age to keep him company, and Aunt Yeld
and Ruddy's little daughter were still left for old friends. So he
settled down comfortably on Dunkery, and by good luck was little
troubled the rest of the winter by the hounds.

At last the spring came again and all was peace on the moor. The ash
sent forth its green shoots, and as usual all the young male deer came
crowding up to eat them; and our Deer got a larger share this spring,
for he was bigger and stronger and could drive the yearlings away. But
about the middle of April his head began to ache again, and not only
to ache but to irritate him a great deal. It grew worse and worse
every day, and one morning it got so troublesome on one side that he
gave his head an extra violent shake; and lo and behold! the horn on
that side began to totter, and before he could understand what had
happened, it fell to the ground. For a minute or two he stood still
trembling with pain, for the air struck cold on to the place from
which the horn had dropped, and hurt him dreadfully. The pain soon got
better, and he went away to hide himself, for he felt very much
ashamed at having but one horn. But after a few hours the other side
of his head grew as bad as the first, and he was wondering what on
earth he should do, when who should come by but another Two-year-old,
with both horns still on his head? Now this Two-year-old was rather
smaller than our Deer, and rather disliked him because he took a
larger share of the ash-sprouts; so thinking that this would be a fine
opportunity of taking his revenge, he came at him at once with his
head lowered. And our Deer ran away--what else could he do with only
one horn against two?--and as he bounded under the oak bushes he
knocked his remaining horn against a branch, and thump! off it came as
suddenly as the other. But he was able to crow over the Two-year-old
in a few days when he too had shed his horns, for our Deer had got
the start of him in growing a new pair, and could show two inches of
growing velvet where the other could only show one.

So when the autumn came and the velvet began to peel, our Deer found
that he had bigger horns than any other deer of his own age, brow,
trey and upright, very strong and well-grown; such was his good luck
in being an early calf and having had so good a mother. And when
a