Hunting at High Altitude* 



tip-toed and got hold of one elk horn and pulled 

 the skull down opposite her mouth, evidently ex- 

 pecting to find the head full of maggots. She there- 

 by wedged the horn between the two small trees 

 with such force that it took us a long time the next 

 day to* get it free. We had cleaned the head so 

 carefully that she was disappointed in getting her 

 hors d'azuvre of maggots. With a disappointed 

 munch through the skull, and after cuffing it with 

 her paws, she dropped lazily, but gracefully, to the 

 ground and made straight for the carcass, there- 

 fore almost directly toward me. She placed her 

 forefeet on the carcass, first turning her head 

 toward the part which was away from me, and 

 then toward the end which was nearest me, at 

 which moment she saw me for the first time. 



Without an instant's hesitation and with her 

 appearance now that of furious rage, her little eyes 

 curiously green, she charged like lightning, utter- 

 ing meanwhile a low whine, while her mouth was 

 wide open. I jerked my rifle down, having deter- 

 mined to put it in her mouth and pull the trigger 

 when she should reach me, because I wisely con- 

 cluded there was no chance of checking such a 

 charge with my .45-60. When she reached a point 

 less than five rifle lengths from me she came to a 

 sudden halt, with her feet planted well before her, 



310 



