IN THE VALLEY OF ELK RIVER 15 



drive on? You needn't be afraid of Me; I'm not afraid 

 of You." 



How different would have been the action of a 

 domestic rat! One of those villains would have leaped 

 about, and rushed through that load like a murine 

 cyclone, to hide from its just deserts. If cornered it 

 would squeal, and bite, and fight all humanity, and 

 finally be killed in ghoulish glee. But the optimistic 

 attitude of that gray-furred and comfortable rascal in- 

 stantly disarmed all hostility. At once a cry went up, 



" Save him for the Zoo! " 



Huddleston, the cook, put on his leather gloves, 

 calmly plucked forth Neotoma from amid the boxes, 

 and put him in a cage, to await our return. Around 

 the ranches in the Elk River valley, these handsome and 

 good-natured pack-rats were quite common. During the 

 month we were in the mountains Mrs. Huddleston 

 caught four more for me, alive and unhurt, but two 

 escaped and two died. 



I think these creatures could easily be tamed and 

 trained to perform a variety of tricks. They are so 

 steady of nerve, so conscious of their own rectitude, and 

 yet so original and versatile in mind, it seems to me they 

 must be capable of successful training. V^ho will be the 

 wise party to introduce to the world the first and only 

 Troupe of Trained Rocky Mountain Neotomas? When 

 'tis done, I predict an astonishing display of mental 

 capacity. 



On September 3d we " pulled our freight," literally, 

 up the Elk Valley, in a lumber wagon, for one day's 



