16 LIFE IN THE PAR WEST 



Tt was now near midnight dark and misty ; and 

 the clouds, rolling away to the eastward from the lofty 

 ridges of the Rocky Mountains, were gradually obscuring 

 the dim starlight. As the lighter vapours faded from 

 the mountains, a thick black cloud succeeded them, and 

 settled over the loftier peaks of the chain, faintly visible 

 through the gloom of night, whilst a mass of fleecy scud 

 soon overspread the whole sky. A hollow moaning 

 sound crept through the valley, and the upper branches 

 of the cotton woods, with their withered leaves, began 

 to rustle with the first breath of the coming storm. 

 Huge drops of rain fell at intervals, hissing as they 

 dropped into the blazing fires, and pattering on the skins 

 with which the hunters hurriedly covered the exposed 

 baggage. The mules near the camp cropped the grass 

 with quick and greedy bites round the circuit of their 

 pickets, as if conscious that the storm would soon 

 prevent their feeding, and already humped their backs 

 as the chilling rain fell upon their flanks. The prairie 

 wolves crept closer to the camp, and in the confusion 

 that ensued from the hurry of the trappers to cover the 

 perishable portions of their equipment, contrived more 

 than once to dart off with a piece of meat, when their 

 peculiar and mournful chiding would be heard as they 

 fought for the possession of the ravished morsel. 



When everything was duly protected, the men set to 

 work to spread their beds ; those who had not troubled 

 themselves to erect a shelter, getting under the lee of 

 the piles of packs and saddles ; whilst Killbuck, dis- 

 daining even such care of his carcass, threw his buffalo 



