34 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



" I want to know ! Another deer ! Clare, get old 

 Reuben and bring him up here in a hurry. We'll go 

 right after that deer. Rhea," calling to his wife, 

 " Dyche has another deer. Don't it beat time ! Say, 

 Rhea, give us an extra mess of that venison this 

 morning. Well, I want to know ! If he didn't bring 

 the liver with him ! Cook a good lot of that too. 

 How far is it? Just think of it, Rhea, just up here 

 at the head of the meadow. Three deer killed almost 

 within a quarter of a mile of the house. This is the 

 country for me. They wouldn't believe it if I should 

 write it back to Boston." 



Clare brought up old Reuben, and while Mrs. 

 Harvey cooked the venison the deer was brought down 

 from the mountain. The old doe was a good load 

 for the burro and much trouble was experienced in 

 making the contrary brute carry it down safely. 

 How that breakfast was enjoyed ! The long morning 

 tramp and the bracing air sharpened the appetite, 

 while the savory venison, flanked on either side by 

 hot gems and washed down by such coffee and cream 

 as can only be obtained at Harvey's ranch, made a 

 meal not easily forgotten. 



Dyche now had two young deer, buck and doe, and 

 an old doe for specimens, but the mountains had too 

 great a charm for him and he could not leave them. 

 The early morning hunts and the trailing of the deer 

 through the woods were too great a pleasure to be 

 soon foregone. A few days after killing the doe a 

 rain fell just at the dinner-hour and continued for a 

 few minutes after. When it cleared and the sun 

 came out Dyche took his Winchester and started up 



