210 The Mountain Sheep 



I saw the ewe and the lamb, I had shot a ewe. 

 It is, I believe, considered unsportsmanlike to do 

 this ; I have never seen the sportsman yet, though, 

 who would not cheerfully bring home a ewe to an 

 empty larder. Our larder was empty, even of fish, 

 which had been plentiful until we had climbed up 

 here among the Tetons, where the brooks ran too 

 small for fish. 



My object this second day was to find, if I 

 could, a ram ; and it proved one of those occa- 

 sions (sadly rare in my experience) when, being 

 disappointed of one's wish, something actually 

 better descends from the gods, bringing consola- 

 tion. It was a climb less severe than those of 

 which I have already written, for our camp among 

 the Tetons was close to the fourth story; less, I 

 should suppose, than a thousand feet above our 

 tent, the mountain grew bare of trees. Upward 

 from this, it was not a long walk to snow. 



When first I saw the mother and child, I 

 already had them at a great disadvantage ; they 

 were, to be sure, where I had not expected them 

 to be, but I was where they had not expected me 

 to be ; and thus I became aware of them a long 

 distance below me, actually coming up to me by 

 the trail I had come myself. Trail, you must 



