1 8 Sport and Life. 



saw recline against the same tree, and from the new coil of half- 

 inch rope, which the men have brought with the provisions from 

 the fort, the Kid is just cutting new lengths of lash-ropes to replace 

 some worn-out ones. 



A square piece of elk or moose skin, dry and stiff as a board, 

 nailed to the top of four upright posts under the spreading boughs 

 of the camp tree, makes a capital table. The big iron camp bucket, 

 into which fit all the culinary utensils required for the somewhat 

 primitive cooking of the party, makes, when turned upside down 

 or, as the Kid will persist in saying, '' downside up " a comfortable 

 seat when any writing has to be done at the table. The four beds, 

 each consisting of two buffalo robes and a thick California 

 blanket, are neatly rolled up in their strip of waterproof canvas, 

 which protects them. When tightly corded, they are slung as side- 

 packs on to the horses. Of luck, one can speak, if these same 

 blankets have not to take the place of those worn out under the 

 saddles, or those that are lost, for it is one of the most puzzling 

 things how blankets used as saddle-cloths for the pack-animals will 

 manage to wriggle out and get lost in a long " drive " over 

 country where steep ascents and descents cause the packs to shift 

 if the saddle girths are not constantly tightened. And a blanket 

 thus lost, is not only irreplaceable, but it generally means a sore 

 back and a horse rendered unfit for work for a week or two, often 

 just at a time when the carrying power of every animal is taxed to 

 the utmost. x 



Every article of this camp is, as we have seen, in its place, for 

 the due observance of the old axiom that it is just as easy to put 

 everything in its proper place at the start, rather than just drop it 

 anywhere, saves in the end time, trouble, and temper. The 

 dilemmas caused by untidiness in this respect are often most 

 vexatious, and never more so than if during the night a snowstorm 

 covers the ground unexpectedly with half a foot or a foot of snow, 

 as I have seen it do on many occasions. Where are you next 

 morning? In the tidiest of camps it is not an agreeable fix to be 

 in, but in an untidy one it means well, to put it mildly some lively 



