i8o Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



bank or other wind-break; and as the eastern heav- 

 ens grew brighter, a dark form suddenly appeared 

 against the sky-line, on the crest of a bluff directly 

 ahead of us. Another and another came up beside 

 it. A glance told us that it was a troop of ponies, 

 which stood motionless, like so many silhouettes, 

 their outstretched necks and long tails vividly out- 

 lined against the light behind them. All in the val- 

 ley was yet dark when we reached the place where 

 the creek began to split up and branch out into the 

 various arms and ravines from which it headed. 

 We galloped smartly over the divide into a set of 

 coulies and valleys which ran into a different creek, 

 and selected a grassy place where there was good 

 feed to leave the horses. My companion picketed 

 his ; Manitou needed no picketing. 



The tops of the hills were growing rosy, but the 

 sun was not yet above the horizon when we started 

 off, with our rifles on our shoulders, walking in cau- 

 tious silence, for we were in good ground and might 

 at any moment see a deer. Above us was a plateau 

 of some size, breaking off sharply at the rim into a 

 surrounding stretch of very rough and rugged coun- 

 try. It sent off low spurs with notched crests into 

 the valleys round about, and its edges were indented 

 with steep ravines and half-circular basins, their sides 

 covered with clusters of gnarled and wind-beaten 

 cedars, often gathered into groves of some size. 

 The ground was so broken as to give excellent cover 

 under which a man could approach game unseen; 

 there were plenty of fresh signs of deer; and we 



