244 TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 



I fired, and missed ignominiously. It seems a 

 ridiculous thing to clean miss so large a mark as an 

 Ovis dalli ram at sixty paces. But when winded, 

 after a long, hard climb the hands are apt to be very 

 unsteady, and an odd trembling of the limbs affects 

 a certain number of us. 



I felt very small as the Leader raised his rifle to 

 mend matters. All this takes a long time to tell* 

 but it happened in the fraction of a moment really. 

 The ram, not moved by my fusillade, presented a 

 most desirable chance, standing broadside now, 

 quivering; he seemed almost magnetized with terror. 



Bang! 



The bullet passed over the back of the sheep, and 

 for that animal the spell was broken, and he bolted 

 incontinently, slipping and sliding down the slopes. 



" You might say it for me too, will you?" I said 

 to the Leader, who was saying things to his rifle, 

 as he regarded it closely, as though wondering if he 

 might portion some part of the blame to the weapon. 



Steve was heartbroken. Why not kill a ewe, and 

 have done with it? We could get any quantity, he 

 Said, without travelling so far. Just as though our 

 object on the trip was to keep these natives going 

 with unlimited provender ! 



At that moment a bullet hit the ground about four 

 paces from us, another fell ominously close to Steve, 

 who ran round and round in a circle in a most ridicul- 

 ous manner, as though by keeping moving he might 

 avoid the hail of lead. Another and another bullet 

 struck the rocks near us, and we were just about to 



