286 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



a long stay. All were up early next morning, and as 

 soon as breakfast was finished all except Jim went 

 on a hunt for elk. The doctor and Dyche returned, 

 unsuccessful, about noon, but the judge did not come 

 in. His feet were still in poor shape for travelling, 

 and he had intended to make but a short hunt. 

 Jim now began to worry over his absence, and 

 as the afternoon wore on with no return of the wan- 

 derer, the uneasiness was shared by the natural- 

 ist and the doctor. The latter walked along the 

 base of Pagoda Peak in the direction taken by 

 the judge, while Dyche went down a small stream 

 along the valley. A little curling smoke about a mile 

 below attracted the attention of the naturalist, and, 

 in the hope that it might be the judge camped for the 

 night, he made his way to it, reaching the place after 

 dark. There was a deserted camp-fire smouldering at 

 the end of a log, while a few spruce boughs piled 

 against a tree indicated that someone had spent a 

 night there not long before. After an examination 

 Dyche became convinced that this was the spot where 

 Jim had spent the night when he had walked that 

 "hundred miles." His surmise was proven correct 

 when Jim afterwards saw the place and recognised it. 

 Not a sign of the judge could be found, and it was 

 with a feeling of great anxiety that preparations were 

 made for the night. Signal-shots were fired at inter- 

 vals until midnight, but there was no response. 

 Morning dawned upon a trio of very anxious hunt- 

 ers. A council of war was held, and it was decided 

 that a general search should be made if the missing 

 man did not return by eleven o'clock. Dyche could 



