206 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



legs that were as strong as steel rods, and 

 yet slender, clean, and smooth ; they were in 

 color a beautiful dark brown, contrasting well 

 with the yellowish of the body. The neck 

 and throat were garnished with a mane of 

 long hair ; the symmetry of the great horns 

 set off the fine, delicate lines of the noble 

 head. He had been wallowing, as elk are 

 fond of doing, and the dried mud clung in 

 patches to his flank; a stab in the haunch 

 showed that he had been overcome in battle 

 by some master bull who had turned him out 

 of the herd. 



We cut off the head, and bore it down to the 

 train. The horses crowded together, snort- 

 ing, with their ears pricked forward, as they 

 smelt the blood. We also took the loins with 

 us, as we were out of meat, though bull elk 

 in the rutting season is not very good. The 

 rain had changed to a steady downpour when 

 we again got under way. Two or three miles 

 farther we pitched camp, in a clump of pines 

 on a hillock in the bottom of the valley, start- 

 ing hot fires of pitchy stumps before the tents, 

 to dry our wet things. 



Next day opened with fog and cold rain. 

 The drenched pack-animals, when driven into 

 camp, stood mopingly, with drooping heads 

 and arched backs ; they groaned and grunted 

 as the loads were placed on their backs and 

 the cinches tightened, the packers bracing one 

 foot against the pack to get a purchase as 

 they hauled in on the lash-rope. A stormy 

 morning is a trial to temper ; the packs are 

 wet and heavy, and the cold makes the work 



