"'Twere best to lay along and drag ourselves to yonder blasted oak," said Snare. "Be careful and keep where the fern is less thick. The slightest unnatural movement of the herbage, and they are off."
So saying, Snare lay flat on the ground, and began to worm himself towards the tree he had mentioned, Shakespeare doing the same and following close in his wake; and so quietly and cautiously did they continue their serpent-like course, that a looker-on would hardly have discovered the track they took except by the occasional movements of the long grass and fern.
Every now and then the crafty Snare lay perfectly quiet for a few moments, and then cautiously raising his bare head, looked forth to see if the herd were still unconscious of their approach.
Nothing could be more lovely than the entire scene, as it was looked upon by Shakespeare. Before and around him lay the wild chase, the deer couched "in their own confines," and nearly hidden in the long thick grass of ages—himself in a spot which, except under the peculiar circumstance in which he sought it, he could scarce have beheld the game so near,—those magnificent and antlered monarchs of waste, be it remembered. For in Elizabeth's day, and in the extensive parks of the great, the stag was a wilder and fiercer creature than the same animal domesticated as they are, from the confined space in which they are necessarily kept.
The danger attendant on the situation also lent its charm to one of his bold and ardent spirit. As his eye glanced amidst the magnificent scenery, his imagination was instantly carried back to the days of the early English kings, when Britain was one entire forest, waste or wold; and when, even at an after period, the conquering Norman had lain waste whole districts to give room for the chase. Then again, with the shifting change of thought, his imagination bodied forth the fabled beings of an earlier age. The mossed carpet on which he stood, the venerable trees around, the sweet scent of the fern, and the perfumed air of the fresh forest, as the dews of summer night fell around him, suggested those magnificent thoughts, peculiar to himself, and which in after life produced descriptions unequalled for beauty in any age. He was
"With Hercules and Cadmus,
When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear
With hounds of Sparta.
Besides the groves,
The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seemed all one mutual cry."
Meantime whilst the mind of Shakespeare was impressed with the beauty of the situation, as well as interested in the sport, the less imaginative Snare, with his whole soul intent upon slaughter, and with all the cunning of his craft, his body flattened against the huge tree, one hand keeping his companion back, the other grasping his cross-bow, again cautiously peered out into the glade before him.
This was a moment of intense interest to the deer-stealers. They found themselves so close upon the wild and magnificent animals that they could see their slightest movement.
There is indeed, something inexpressibly exciting to the hunter or the deer stalker in thus finding himself in the midst of the herd, a spy upon them in their security, conscious at the same time that the slightest movement or mistake on his own part will ruin the hours of toil he has previously spent in gaining his position.
A magnificent stag lay a little to the right, and nearest to Shakespeare; he touched his companion lightly on the shoulder, and by a sign signified that he meant to fire at it.