WAPITI-RUNNING ON THE PLAINS 99 



who are going in hunting for the first time. Any 

 way, it would pass the time and keep us from 

 quarreUing for want of something else to do. 

 What do you say to spinning us a yarn ? " 



" Well," said WiUie Whisper, " I've hunted a 

 bit in the woods, among the mountains and on 

 the great plains, and the memory of those hunts 

 is pretty fresh. But as to the pleasure to be 

 found in hunting, you must judge of that for 

 yourselves. Some people find no pleasure where 

 there is no profit. To others the mere fact that 

 there is no profit constitutes half the pleasure. 

 Well, here goes. What shall I begin with ? You 

 two gentlemen are about to have your first ex- 

 perience of the Canadian woods, so I may as well 

 make a start with moose-hunting in Canada." 



It would be tedious to allude to the episodes 

 of each recurring day. The daylight hours were 

 short in the ordinary routine of an idle camp — 

 cooking, eating, foraging for food, trout and a 

 few spruce partridges, cleaning guns, mending 

 moccasins, cutting firewood, and so on. I will 

 just recount the substance of the yarns that were 

 spun night after night before the red fire. 



