AN ELK-HUNT AT TWO-OCEAN PASS. 209 



pitched camp in a beautiful point of open pine 

 forest, thrust out into the meadow. There 

 was good shelter, and plenty of wood, water, 

 and grass ; we built a huge fire and put up 

 our tents, scattering them in likely places 

 among the pines, which grew far apart and 

 without undergrowth. We dried our steaming 

 clothes, and ate a hearty supper of elk-meat ; 

 then we turned into our beds, warm and dry, 

 and slept soundly under the canvas, while all 

 night long the storm roared without. Next 

 morning it still stormed fitfully ; the high 

 peaks and ridges round about were all capped 

 with snow. Woody and I started on foot for 

 an all-day tramp ; the amount of game seen 

 the day before showed that we were in a good 

 elk-country, where the elk had been so little 

 disturbed that they were travelling, feeding, 

 and whistling in daylight. For three hours 

 we walked across the forest-clad spurs of the 

 foot-hills. We roused a small band of elk in 

 thick timber ; but they rushed off before we 

 saw them, with much smashing of dead 

 branches. Then we climbed to the summit of 

 the range. The wind was light and baffling ; 

 it blew from all points, veering every few min- 

 utes. There were occasional rain-squalls ; 

 our feet and legs were well soaked ; and we 

 became chilled through whenever we sat down 

 to listen. We caught a glimpse of a big bull 

 feeding up-hill, and followed him ; it needed 

 smart running to overtake him, for an elk, 

 even while feeding, has a ground-covering 

 gait. Finally we got within a hundred and 

 twenty-five yards, but in very thick timber, 

 and all I could see plainly was the hip and the 



