SHEEP, MOOSE AND CARIBOU 



hension for his safety. Visions of a crippled 

 Alaskan lying out under a tree in the cold and 

 snow began to appear before us. "The old rat," 

 muttered Cap in a jocular vein. "You couldn't 

 hurt that old gopher! He curled himself under 

 a tree last night and is only waiting this morning 

 for the sun to dry the bushes. Then he'll come 

 out of his hole like a prairie-dog and amble into 

 camp." 



But Cap's words didn't console us, and we 

 insisted on his sending someone out to hunt for 

 Shorty. Such a thing as a broken leg or arm or 

 other injury in the hills is too common, we 

 thought, to allow us to forget him. Longley and 

 Wooden were sent out across the White and over 

 the boggy tundras where Shorty and Wooden 

 hunted the previous day, but in a couple of 

 hours they returned, soaked to the skin, with 

 the report that he couldn't be found. The moun- 

 tains were white with snow, as well as the trees 

 near timberline, and without chaps one was sure 

 to get soaked from the wet and snow-covered 

 bushes and trees. 



At lo o'clock Longley and Wooden were again 

 asked to go look for Shorty, so they departed. 

 At 1 1 :30 we saw the three crossing the White a 

 mile or two away, and our relief was inexpres- 

 sible. When he came in. Shorty explained that, 

 having missed Billy Wooden the evening before, 

 he preferred to si wash it under a tree for the 

 night rather than wade thru the wet underbrush 



125 



