1 6 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



of sheer cliffs and grassy plateaus. This veranda is 

 a pleasant place in the summer evenings when a cool 

 breeze stirs along the river and blows in the faces 

 of the tired men, who loll back in their rocking-chairs, 

 (what true American does not enjoy a rocking- 

 chair?), book in hand though they do not often 

 read the books, but rock gently to and fro, gazing 

 sleepily out at the weird-looking buttes opposite, 

 until their sharp outlines grow indistinct and pur- 

 ple in the after-glow of the sunset. The story-high 

 house of hewn logs is clean and neat, with many 

 rooms, so that one can be alone if one wishes to. 

 The nights in summer are cool and pleasant, and 

 there are plenty of bear-skins and buffalo robes, 

 trophies of our own skill, with which to bid defiance 

 to the bitter cold of winter. In summer time we are 

 not much within doors, for we rise before dawn and 

 work hard enough to be willing to go to bed soon 

 after nightfall. The long winter evenings are spent 

 sitting round the hearthstone, while the pine logs 

 roar and crackle, and the men play checkers or 

 chess, in the firelight. The rifles stand in the cor- 

 ners of the room or rest across the elk antlers which 

 jut out from over the fireplace. From the deer 

 horns ranged along the walls and thrust into the 

 beams and rafters hang heavy overcoats of wolf- 

 skin or coon-skin, and otter-fur or beaver-fur caps 

 and gauntlets. Rough board shelves hold a num- 

 ber of books, without which some of the evenings 

 would be long indeed. No ranchman who loves 

 sport can afford to be without Van Dyke's "Still 



