Krag, the Kootenay Ram 



for those who read such things — a record of a 

 time of want. 



XIII 



At length old Scotty came back. Like all 

 mountaineers, he was a wanderer, and he once 

 more returned alone to his shanty on Tobacco 

 Creek. The sod roof had fallen in, and he 

 hesitated to repair it. Anyhow he would pros- 

 pect awhile first. He took his rifle and sought 

 the familiar upland. Before he returned he 

 had sighted two large bands of Mountain Sheep. 

 That decided him. He spent a couple of days 

 repairing the shanty, and the curse of the Yak- 

 in-i-kak returned. 



Scotty was now a middle-aged man. His 

 hand was strong and steady, but his eyes had 

 lost some of their power. As a youth he had 

 scorned all aids to sight ; but now he car- 

 ried a field-glass. In the weeks that followed 

 he scanned a thousand benches through the 

 glass, and many a time his eye rested on the 

 form of the Gunder Ram. The first time he 

 saw him, he exclaimed, " Heavens, what horns! " 

 then added prophetically, "Them's mine!" 



68 





