ON THE PRAIRIE 91 



he will need to pay good heed to his own 

 footing or else run the risk of breaking his 

 nee 



As far as lay in us, on our first day's hunt 

 we paid proper heed to all the rules of hunt- 

 ing-craft ; but without success. Up the slip- 

 pery, ice-covered buttes we clambered, cling- 

 ing to the rocks, and slowly working our 

 way across the faces of the cliffs, or cau- 

 tiously creeping along the narrow ledges, 

 peering over every crest long and carefully, 

 from the peaks scanning the ground ail 

 about with the field-glasses. But we sa 

 sheep, and but little sign of them. Still we 

 did see some sign, and lost a shot, either 

 through bad luck or bad management. This 

 was while going through a duster of broken 

 Juntos, whose peaks rose up like sharp cones. 

 On reaching the top of one at the leeward 

 end, we worked cautiously up the side, sc 

 nothing, to the other end, and then down 

 along the middle. When about half-way 

 back we came across the fresh footprints of 

 a ewe or yearling ram in a little patch of 



