246 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



detail of the vision. Taking down his rifle he 

 tried to do so with exactly the same movement, 

 he clothed himself in precisely the same way, he 

 set out on the trail, going, as nearly as he could, 

 the same gait. Arriving after some time at the 

 arroyo, he paused, looked up on the hillside in 

 the first gray of the dawn, and there, under the 

 oak tree, he perceived standing a fine buck. With 

 great deliberation he aimed, and fired. The ani- 

 mal fell. Climbing the ascent he cut the dead 

 deer's throat and hung the carcass in the nearest 

 tree, disembowelled it, and sat down on an adja- 

 cent boulder to rest himself while it cooled. Then 

 from his pouch he took his tobacco and paper, 

 and proceeded to make his cigarette. Doing all 

 this with great care and deliberation, he lighted 

 it, and after enjoying a few whiffs, he leaned over, 

 picked up a small piece of rock, and chipped off 

 the corner of the boulder on which he was sitting. 

 It was, not pure silver, but almost entirely virgin 

 gold. 



What Castro did in the next hour he could not 

 describe coherently ; for a short time he doubtless 

 lost his wits. Great rocks of pure gold are not 

 frequent in the Sierra. To Senora Castro I am 

 indebted for a description of her husband on his 

 return to the cabin, shortly after sunrise. She 

 said he appeared to her coming down the side of 

 the hill clothed only in his shirt and shoes ; upon 



