124 ADVENTURES OF DR. ALLEN. 



have been five thousand of them. We could see them for 

 miles, rushing up the rugged mountain, until they disap- 

 peared in a large, timbered canyon. We cut the horns off 

 our elks and hung them in a tree. 



I remembered that I had shot at a cow elk a little way 

 up the river before the stampede and went back to look for 

 her, but she had disappeared. I was almost sure that I had 

 hit her, and could not account for her absence ; I examined 

 the ground carefully for traces of blood or hair, but none 

 were to be seen. At last I observed a small tree, with a 

 bullet mark upon it, where a ball had evidently struck it and 

 glanced off; this explained the mystery. The tree had 

 defrauded me of my cow. I was turning away when I 

 caught sight of a fresh trail through the bushes that looked 

 as if some heavy body had been dragged over it. I fol- 

 lowed this trail, scanning every bush until I came to a hole 

 in the ground, the size of a large hogshead, where the trail 

 entered this slanting hole. Below I could see an elk calf. 

 Further examinations proved that this was the den of a 

 mountain lion. I cut a long and strong hooked pole,, and 

 commenced fishing for the calf. I soon heard a low rumb- 

 ling noise in the cavern, and beheld, far down, a pair of 

 glittering fire-balls. I drew a bead full between the eyes and 

 fired. The flash and report of the gun, mingling with the 

 dismal roar, was deafening, but quiet reigned within the 

 cavern. My ball had sped home. 



With my pole I worked long and hard and finally 

 succeeded in pulling the calf above ground. I was very 

 much surprised to find a bullet hole in its head. It was 

 standing about thirty feet from the cow when I fired at her 

 and the ball must have glanced from the tree and struck 

 it in the head. This was the only way I could account for it. 

 I wanted very much to see how it fared with my lion, but 



