THE LAST HUNT. 297 



had been standing and saw the latter about four hun- 

 dred yards farther on and the elk in a bunch about 

 seventy-five yards below him. Jim had used his last 

 cartridge and was watching the band, which ran 

 about a hundred yards farther and then stopped on 

 a knoll. Another run took them to the woods and 

 then they were out of sight. Jim went back after 

 the shoes and jackets and told the naturalist of the 

 number of big ones he had killed. It was decided 

 to go back to camp, as it was almost dark, and re- 

 turn in the morning for the dead elk. 



The evening was spent by Jim and Dyche in tell- 

 ing over and over again what they had done and 

 what a lot of fine bulls would be found dead. Early 

 in the morning the whole party went to the field of 

 action, expecting to find at least a dozen dead elk. 

 A very careful search revealed the fact that not an 

 elk had been killed, while the only evidence that any 

 had been wounded was an occasional drop of blood, 

 which might have come from a sore foot or an injured 

 leg. The trail of the fleeing elk was followed four 

 or five miles, and then Jim was compelled to acknowl- 

 edge that he had missed the whole herd. On the 

 return the judge rounded up a fine bull which had 

 straggled from the band, evidently the one at which 

 Dyche had shot, and took it into camp, thus ending 

 their great elk-hunt in the Rockies. ^ncroft 1 



Every member of the party was now satisfied with 

 the result of the trip to the mountains, including Jim, 

 who, however, was a little sore over his experience 

 with the big band, and the party was ready to return 

 to civilisation. 



