ON DIAMOND CEEEK 167 



awares, in a shady grove or thicket, when often we 

 were able to approach to within fifty paces or less 

 before alarm was taken. 



Once as I was sighting the compass an eight- 

 pronged buck, followed by six does, jogged past. 

 They were headed for water, on a cattle trail not a 

 hundred feet away. They seemed in the last stages 

 of exhaustion, heads down, shoulders sagging for- 

 ward, ears drooping forlornly, for all the world like 

 a row of tired hounds. 



At a whistle the seven deer whirled toward me 

 and stood erect, motionless as if frozen. Then sud- 

 denly what a scattering and springing! What a 

 clatter of stones and a darting of tawny forms 

 through the startled air ! What a sudden and com- 

 plete vanishment of those same weary looking ani- 

 mals I had so pitied a moment before. 



Probably one of the chief reasons, if not the chief, 

 for our enjoyment of our work at this time was the 

 excellent physical condition in which we found our- 

 selves. The week's rest on top, following our exer- 

 tions on the east side, had given us a chance to 

 recuperate. This, with the bracing change of air 

 and temperature, the sound sleep and the good food 

 since, had made us thoroughly fit, overflowing with 

 strength and spirits. The daily cruise was child's 

 play for us now. Our legs were like steel springs, 

 our wind perfect. We seemed never to tire, never 

 to exhaust the reservoir of energy. 



Day after day we fairly romped through forty, 



