ON THE PRAIRIE 187 



est-clad mountains the effect is most beauti- 

 ful ; for its charm is heightened by the wild 

 and desolate surroundings. It has the sus- 

 tained, varied melody of some bird songs, 

 with, of course, a hundred-fold greater 

 power. Now and then, however, the per- 

 formance is marred by the elk's apparently 

 getting out of breath towards the close, and 

 winding up with two or three gasping notes 

 which have an unpleasantly mule-like sound. 

 The great pine-clad mountains, their for- 

 ests studded with open glades, were the best 

 of places for the still-hunter's craft. Going 

 noiselessly through them in our dull-colored 

 buckskin and noiseless moccasins, we kept 

 getting glimpses, as it were, of the inner life 

 of the mountains. Each animal that we saw 

 had its own individuality. Aside from the 

 thrill and tingle that a hunter experiences at 

 the sight of his game, I by degrees grew to 

 feel as if I had a personal interest in the dif- 

 ferent traits and habits of the wild creatures. 

 The characters of the animals dift 

 widely, and the differences were typified by 



