130 A Hunting Trip 



mand was flatly refused by the individ- 

 ual in question, although he claimed to be 

 the game warden of the district; and 

 that he was not entitled to either ask 

 or grant any permit of the kind afterwards 

 conclusively appeared by events. But this 

 gentleman was nothing but a smart Yankee 

 who had travelled South and had advertised 

 extensively for suckers who would bite at the 

 rate of four dollars a day for permission to 

 hunt over a vast tract of Mexican country 

 that this ingenious Yankee claimed to have 

 leased for hunting purposes, — which claim, as 

 we subsequently learned, was not true. Suf- 

 fice it to say, the big bluff and the Yankee- 

 Mexican game-warden went down to the 

 same common undoing. We were soon on 

 our way with pack and equipment in apple-pie 

 order for a two weeks' trip in the mountains 

 after javilin, mountain lion, deer, etc. Our 

 first day's travel was a steady climb — up and 

 up we went, a gradual ascent for hours, until, 

 before we reached the summit, it had become 

 apparent that it would be impossible for us to 

 reach water before nightfall, necessitating 



