TWENTY YEARS IN THE ROCKIES. IQ5 



the past rise up before me, that I fancied I could hear the 

 tramp of the war-horses, and the savage yells of the Sioux as 

 they charged upon us. I remembered friendships, made and 

 cemented under trying circumstances, that will last as long 

 as life itself. 



My reverie was terminated by the sight of a large 

 beaver swimming rapidly before me. All instincts of a 

 hunter were at once aroused within me, though the game 

 was very small. I was about fifty yards from him when he 

 made a dive. I had been drifting idly along, but now I 

 caught the oars, made several rapid strokes, and dropped 

 them again when close upon him. He arose, dived again 

 and I repeated the rowing process. This time I came out 

 ahead of him. His house was evidently below me, and when 

 he next came to the surface, almost drowned, I took deliber- 

 ate aim at the back of his head and fired. I reached the spot 

 where he had last appeared, and there was plenty of hair, 

 blood, and brains visible,, but no beaver ; he had gone down 

 never to rise gain. I could only thank him for diverting 

 my mind from thoughts that had become painful. 



Although the day had been warm, as the sun declined, 

 and night drew near, the air became quite cold. I had trav- 

 eled a long distance, was hungry, tired and cold, so I rode to 

 a beautiful island, which I found covered with tall trees, red 

 willows and bilberry bushes, forming a thick undergrowth. 

 Hauling my skiff out upon a little sandbar,, I soon had a fire 

 with coffee simmering over it. A slight noise in the bushes, 

 some distance below, caught my ear, and, with gun in hand, 

 I pushed in that direction to discover its cause. My eyes 

 were gladdened by the sight of a large doe and two fawns, 

 going to the water's edge to drink. I decided to secure the 

 fawn next to me, and brought him down at one shot. The 

 others turned and fled across the island, making the bushes 

 rattle in their flight. 



