AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 185 



supper. As darkness drew on, I went out to picket 

 my horses and noticed that they were acting 

 strangely. They were looking down the mountain 

 side with ears pointed forward, sniffing the air and 

 moving about uneasily. 



I gave their picket ropes a turn around convenient 

 jack pines, and then slipping cautiously back to the 

 tent, got my rifle and returned. I could see nothing 

 strange and sat down beside a log to await develop- 

 ments. In a few minutes I heard a dead limb break. 

 Then there was a rustling in a bunch of tall, dry 

 grass; more snapping of twigs and shaking of bushes. 

 I ascertained that there were several large animals 

 moving toward me and feared it might be a family 

 of bears. I feared it, I say, because it was now so 

 dark that I could not see to shoot at any distance, and 

 knew that if bears came near the horses the latter 

 would break their ropes and stampede. I thought 

 of shouting and trying to frighten them off, but 

 decided to await developments. Presently I heard 

 a snapping of hoofs and a succession of dull, heavy, 

 thumping noises, accompanied by reports of break- 

 ing brush, which I knew at once were 'made by a 

 band of elk jumping over a high log. 



The game was now not more than fifty yards 

 away and in open ground, yet I could not see even 

 a movement, for I was looking down toward a dark 

 canon, many hundreds of feet deep. Slowly the 

 great beasts Avorked toward me. They were coming 

 down wind and I felt sure could not scent me, but 

 they could evidently see my horses, outlined against 

 the sky, and had doubtless heard them snorting 

 and moving about. 



