As to the old huntsman, he was the nearest to me, and I could see with my own eyes how overcome he was by what he had seen.

He was like a man paralyzed--his mouth open, his hand, with outspread fingers, raised in the air.

For a moment my inclination was to return and to embrace him.

But already the call of duty was sounding in my ears, and these English, in spite of all the fraternity which exists among sportsmen, would certainly have made me prisoner.

There was no hope for my mission now, and I had done all that I could do.