286 Still-Hunting Elk. 



During our stay upon the mountains the weather 

 was generally clear, but always cold, thin ice covering 

 the dark waters of the small mountain tarns, and there 

 were slight snow-falls every two or three days ; but we 

 were only kept in camp one day, when it sleeted, snowed, 

 and rained from dawn till nightfall. We passed this day 

 very comfortably, however. I had far too much fore- 

 thought to go into the woods without a small supply 

 of books for just such occasions. We had rigged the 

 canvas wagon sheet into a tent, at the bottom of the 

 ravine, near the willow-covered brink of the brook that 

 ran through it. The steep hill-sides bounding the valley, 

 which a little below us became sheer cliffs, were partly 

 covered with great pines and spruces, and partly open 

 ground grown up with tall grass and sage-brush. We 

 were thus well sheltered from the wind ; and when one 

 morning we looked out and saw the wet snow lying on 

 the ground, and with its weight bending down the willow 

 bushes and loading the tall evergreens, while the freezing 

 sleet rattled against the canvas, we simply started a roaring 

 fire of pine logs in front of the tent, and passed a cosy 

 day inside, cleaning guns, reading, and playing cards. 

 Blue grouse, elk hams, and deer saddles hung from the 

 trees around, so we had no fear of starvation. Still, 

 towards evening we got a little tired, and I could not 

 resist taking a couple of hours' brisk ride in the mist, 

 through a chain of open glades that sloped off from our 

 camp. 



Later on we made a camp at the head of a great 

 natural meadow, where two streams joined together, 



