AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 195 



snort or neigli, the game is likely to catch the sound 

 while you are yet entirely out of sight and faraway, 

 and when you finally creep cautiously to the top of 

 the ridge from which you expect a favorable shot, 

 you may find the game placidly looking for you 

 from the top of another ridge a mile or two farther 

 away. 



But we will hope that you are to have better luck 

 than this. To start with, we will presume that you 

 are an expert rifieman; that you are in the habit of 

 making good scores at the butts; that at 800, 900, 

 and 1,000 yards you frequently score 200 to 210 out 

 of a possible 225 points. We will also suppose that 

 you are a hunter of some experience; that you have 

 at least killed a good many deer in the States, but 

 that this is your first trip to the plains. You have 

 learned to estimate distances, however, even in this 

 rare atmosphere, and possess good judgment as to 

 windage. You have brought your Creedmoor rifle 

 along, divested, of course, of its Yenier sight, wind- 

 guage, and spirit-level, and in their places you have 

 fitted a Beach combination front sight and Lyman 

 rear sight. Besides these you have the ordinary 

 open step sight attached to the barrel just in front of 

 the action. This is not the best arm for antelope hunt- 

 ing; a Winchester express with the same sights 

 would be much better; but this will answer very well. 



We camped last night on the bank of a clear, 

 rapid stream that gurgles down from the mountain, 

 and this morning are up long before daylight; 

 have eaten our breakfasts, saddled our horses, 

 and just as the gray of dawn begins to show 

 over the low, flat prairie to the east of us, w<j 



