THIRTY YEARS A HUNTER. 27 



o'clock the wind ceased, when we started. We trav- 

 eled until three, but as the snow had filled up all the 

 niches, we could not find the tracks. The weather 

 being clear and cold, my father proposed that two of 

 us should remain and build a shanty, and the other 

 two start out, each on different routes, to look for elk 

 tracks. My father and older brother started out, 

 while Maddock and I remained to build a shanty. 

 The others came back about sundown. We had our 

 shanty completed, my father officiated as cook, and 

 in our snug walls of hemlock boughs we forgot the 

 toils and perils of the chase. My brother reported 

 that he had seen tracks in a muddy place where the 

 elk had been the night before. The next morning we 

 started about sunrise, and proceeded to the place 

 where Jacob had seen the tracks, arriving there about 

 nine o'clock. The elk had taken a southern direction. 

 When we had followed them about nine miles we 

 came to a place where they had been feeding, and 

 the tracks were quite fresh. They had been gone, 

 as we judged, about two hours. We thought it best 

 not to disturb them that day, as it was nearly night. 

 We accordingly made an encampment and stayed 

 there that night. The following morning, the 5th 

 instant, we started about sunrise, and after following 

 the track about three miles and a half, we found 

 where the elk had lain the night before. About a 

 mile farther we discovered two elk, both bucks, and 

 one a little larger than the other. We tied up all the 

 dogs but one, and let him give them chase. The 

 larger one stood and fought the dog, but the other, as 



