"Well," R—— replied, "all I can say to the bears and sporting animals in general is, that if they don't breakfast a little later, or indulge in luncheons, they won't hear much of me. Fun is fun, and sport is sport; but catch me out of bed at half-past 2 A.M."
"I abide by R——," I said, "I hold his logic in high repute, since its principle is good."
P—— replied not; but, removing the pin from his silk neckcloth, stirred up with its sharp point the smouldering ashes of his pipe. R—— looked in silence at the surrounding scene, and then broke into an exclamation of rapture.
"Is it not beautiful?" concurred P——, turning his eyes in the direction of the mountains. "There is nothing in the world to be compared to the sublimity of this scenery, defined as the outlines are by the clearness of the atmosphere and its deep blue tint." After a short pause he continued, "When we can see at one glance such an immensity of space, and know that this vast tract of mountain and of valley must be full of animal life, is not this silence awful?"
We made no answer, but tacitly complied with his observation.
The rustling of dried leaves and the sharp crack of a breaking twig now crept upon the ear; and P——, a sportsman at all points and at all times, had already turned in the direction whence the interruption came; and, as I was about to speak, he grasped me convulsively by the arm, and, without any other intimation of danger, began slowly to raise his rifle from the ground. R—— and I immediately started up, utterly at a loss to know the cause of his dismay.
"For God's sake!" P—— whispered, without removing his eyes from the quarter where they had been fixed, "don't speak: here he is!"
"Here is what?" in imitative whispers, breathed R——; but, at the same time, cocking the trigger of his rifle, "I don't see him."
"Don't fire!" again whispered P——; "take your time."
"'Don't fire!' and 'take your time,'" said R——; "but what do you see?"