Hunting in the Cattle Country 



full the stew of hot venison and potatoes, and 

 afterward the comfort of our buffalo and cari- 

 bou hide sleeping bags. The next morning 

 the Sheriff's remark of " Look alive, you fel- 

 lows, if you want any breakfast," awoke the 

 other members of the party shortly after dawn. 

 It was bitterly cold as we scrambled out of 

 our bedding, and, after a hasty wash, huddled 

 around the fire, where the venison was sizzling 

 and the coffee-pot boiling, while the bread was 

 kept warm in the Dutch oven. About a third 

 of a mile away to the west the bluffs, which 

 rose abruptly from the river bottom, were 

 crowned by a high plateau, where the grass 

 was so good that over night the horses had 

 been led up and picketed on it, and the man 

 who had led them up had stated the previous 

 evening that he had seen what he took to 

 be fresh footprints of a mountain sheep cross- 

 ing the surface of a bluff fronting our camp. 

 The footprints apparently showed that the an- 

 imal had been there since the camp had been 

 pitched. The face of the cliff on this side 

 was very sheer, the path by which the horses 

 scrambled to the top being around a shoulder 

 and out of sight of camp. 



While sitting close up around the fire finish- 

 299 



