NEITHER BEAR NOR ELK. 61 



down timber until four o'clock in the afternoon, when 

 a little park was reached. The whole space in the 

 park was covered with grass and beautiful flowers, 

 and, darting here and there through the opening, 

 were what appeared to be tiny balls of fire. At first 

 Brown and Dyche were completely mystified, but an 

 examination showed these fire-balls to be hundreds of 

 rufous humming-birds darting among the blossoms. 

 They whirled and flashed through the air, and the 

 whirring of their wings made music like that of 

 wind among the trees. Camp Humming-Bird, the 

 place was called. After a day's rest it was deter- 

 mined to go back to the other side of the range and 

 see what could be found in the Canadian valley. 



The top of the range was reached by noon. The 

 place where the dreadful storm had raged a few days 

 before was now peaceful. The atmosphere was so 

 clear that the distant mountains, seventy-five and a 

 hundred miles away, seemed to lie within easy walk- 

 ing distance. At nightfall a fine, perfectly wild, 

 iron-gray horse, which had evidently broken away 

 from the confinement of civilisation, was seen in the 

 timber. This incident was sufficient to give the name 

 of Wild Horse Camp to the spot, the tent being 

 pitched by the side of a large snow-drift. 



Late next afternoon Dyche went for a little hunt. 

 As he passed through a willow park two bucks 

 jumped and ran through a clump of trees. He took a 

 flying shot as they disappeared, and as only one 

 came out on the other side, Dyche was sure he had 

 not made a miss. The buck jumped up on the side 

 of the hill, and stood as if waiting for its companion. 



