1 74 By Mountain^ Lake, and Plain 



not alarmed or pretended not to be. I got con- 

 cealment for a little way in this, and had hopes 

 it would prove the means of accomplishing a heroic 

 stalk ; but it turned in a way that would again 

 bring me in sight of the herd. I might have 

 waited here, but it would have meant spending 

 the heat of the day four to six hours on that 

 scorching hillside. Forty yards lower down, how- 

 ever, was a dry juniper tree, the miserable shade 

 of whose naked branches looked at the moment 

 particularly inviting. If I could but reach that 

 I could wait in comparative comfort. Slowly, 

 moving one limb at a time, and making myself 

 as flat as was physically possible, I let myself 

 slide. Vain hope ! No further liberties were to 

 be allowed. Up went a ram's head ; a female 

 gave a few bounds and stood gazing. Then came 

 her snort of alarm. Every eye in that herd was 

 turned my way. That was, of course, the end of 

 the stalk. They were too far for a shot, and 

 nothing remained but to see them disappear. 



They stood stock-still for a moment the pause 

 before the wild stampede. As they did so, a big 

 ram I had not seen before appeared from below 

 as if to join the herd. He was distinctly nearer 

 than the others, though still a long shot. I had 

 drawn up my knees and given a twist to my 

 Lyman sight, and was ready for the chance. As 



