Three Quiet Days 101 



winter frost through a lapse of time that baffled one's attempt 

 to grasp: what was it but a document of the very beginning of 

 things, that made man's pride in his history-recorded antiquities 

 a fooHsh and a childish thing. 



Just after sundown a blue heron settled in the creek a hun- 

 dred yards from the house door. Through field glasses he was 

 observed to lay his head sideways to the water, well below his 

 shoulders. After half a minute he struck, sideways, his head 

 traveling to the water on a slight incline, almost horizontally. 

 Four times he was observed to strike, and not once with a direct 

 up and down blow, always sideways, from an almost horizontal 

 position of the head just above the water. 



At sundown Art and Counter returned reporting no luck. 

 Shortly after came William and Jay. William had had the 

 felicity to observe a band of cow elks and calves, clear against 

 the sky upon a high ridge, for some minutes ; a pretty sight, and 

 one that stirred his innate love of animals to the utmost. They 

 had found any number of bull tracks, but, desirous of obtaining 

 an extra large head, had chosen only the very largest, and had 

 made a long and difficult trail, confident of obtaining the boss 

 elk head of the range. Suddenly to their disgust the trail went 

 clear between a couple of young firs, barely three feet apart, 

 and their barks were unscratched. No animal with a spread 

 of horns worth bothering about was going through that gap, 

 for all the size of his feet. So there the chase was aban- 

 doned. 



After dark arrived Fred, from a long day's search for the 

 missing man. Fred had found his trail, some thirty-six hours 

 old — as nearly as could be judged, this side of Tepee. He had 

 lain down, and had his gun with him, for the print of it was ob- 

 served in the snow where he had rested. He was chewing to- 

 bacco — had built no fire, which argued he had no matches, and 

 was taking short steps, which indicated exhaustion. The ap- 

 proach of darkness put an end to the search to be taken up 

 again on the morrow. 



Newspapers and mail were brought in from Grayling post- 

 office by Mr. Johnson — the newest Chicago paper a week old — 

 and from Salt Lake City three days old. Everybody went to 

 bed early, with the weather clouding up outside. 



