146 ADVENTURES OF DR. ALLEN. 



I aimed for his hind legs, high up in the hips, and fired. 

 The ball went straight and broke his legs, he gave a pitiful 

 howl and tried to get up the hill, but found it was impos- 

 sible. He then turned on me savagely, and would have an- 

 nihilated me in no time could his broken legs have supported 

 his heavy body. He cried like a good fellow, begging for 

 the mercy that he had never shown to man or beast, but, aft- 

 er what I had just witnessed, I was not inclined to be mer- 

 ciful, and gave him a ball in the head which quieted him 

 forever. 



After walking another mile I found myself close to a 

 band of elks feeding in a canyon. They were moving very 

 slowly and seemed a lazy set. The bulls had shed their pon- 

 derous horns and there was nothing striking about their ap- 

 pearance. I was tired, and did not care to open upon them 

 at once, so I lay down under a tree and watched them. Fin- 

 ally they came to a standstill upon a grassy hillside. It was 

 too good a chance to be lost, and I roused myself sufficiently 

 to cover a large bull with my rifle. The report startled the 

 animals, but they could not determine from whence the shot 

 came and knew not which way to run. This is a character- 

 istic of elks and black-tail deer. 



They almost always get bewildered when attacked, and 

 often stand crossing their necks, turning and crowding to- 

 gether, until the hunter has time to kill all of them. When 

 the smoke curled upward, I saw my elk dragging his hind 

 legs upon the ground, but still he had the use of his fore-feet 

 as I had hit him too high up to entirely disable him, al- 

 though the ball had broken his spine. I paid no further heed 

 to him just then, but continued shooting at the others until 

 I had killed seven. I might have shot more very easily, 

 but knew we could not care for a greater number at one 

 time. 



