Instances of almost human fidelity are common among deer. We
have several times been witness of them. On one occasion we had
wounded a good stag late in the evening; the herd broke away,
leaving him alone. In a few minutes another fine stag, evidently
his friend, detached himself from the herd and galloped back to
where the first lay wounded in a burn (brook). It got so dark
that we could only tell the whereabouts of the wounded beast
by seeing the other standing by his side. We crawled up to
about a hundred yards of him, but still could not see the one
we had shot. We stood up, expecting he would jump up and make
a run for it, but he was too badly hit. Walking on, we at last
saw his gray head in the heather, and a bullet finished him.
Still the devoted friend kept close by and would not leave the
spot. We had not the heart to shoot the poor beast after he
had given proof of such wonderful fidelity, and at last had
almost to drive him away.--Lord Walsingham and Sir RALPH
PAYNE-GALLWEY, “Shooting.”
(1094)