TWENTY YEARS IN THE ROCKIES. 165 



ponies enjoying the bunch grass, we heard the murmuring 

 of a little rivulet close by, mingled with the cry of coyotes, 

 but the roar of a mountain lion, not far off, caused the ponies 

 to huddle together like quail. The moon was full, the night 

 calm, and the stars shone out like so many diamonds, glitter- 

 ing, dancing, and shooting in all directions. 



The Indian, aroused from a peaceful slumber by the 

 roaring of the lion, said : "Too close to echetacasha (river), 

 we had better move." I told him it would be cowardly to 

 run, and we could easily kill the lion if he came too close, 

 but he replied, "Bad spirits travel at night and good spirits 

 in the day." 



More than an hour passed, when again the roaring was 

 repeated, this time nearer and clearer than before. Little 

 Horn, now thoroughly aroused, insisted upon moving, say- 

 ing the lion would spring from the bushes to where we lay 

 and devour us before we could make any defense. I said 

 it would be his last spring if he attempted such a thing, and 

 persuaded the Indian to lie down, by telling him that I had 

 killed many lions and was not afraid of them. We were 

 lying down with our clothes on, in order to be ready in case 

 anything should happen; all was quiet once more and half 

 an hour had passed when we heard the lion,, softly creeping 

 through the bushes like a cat. 



Finally two fiery eyes looked through the foliage upon 

 us, and slowly and cautiously he approached the carcass of 

 the elk calf, weighing fully three hundred pounds and intact, 

 except one leg which we had cut off. We expected he 

 would go to tearing and eating the meat, but, to our amaze- 

 ment, he took the calf about the middle, raised it off the 

 ground, and started off up the hill. The audacity of the 

 act and the great strength displayed by the brute almost 

 paralyzed me, but I resolved not to be robbed in that manner, 



