noon
At once he set about becoming an accomplished deer-stalker . For three days he rode , or tramped , about the forest of Tullispaith , in search of red deer which , in quite foolish estimate of their peril , insisted always on putting a hill between themselves and his rifle . On the fourth day he rested , for though his spirit was willing , his legs were weak . This inactivity irked him , for he knew the tireless energy of the English sportsman ; and at noon Fortune inspired him with the most disastrous idea of all , the idea of taking a stroll by himself . He took his rifle and a packet of sandwiches , and set out . Now to the unpractised eye any one brae , or glen , or burn of bonnie Scotland is exactly like any other brae , or glen , or burn of that picturesque land . He had not gone two miles before he had lost his way .