204 ORUISIiNGS UN' THE CASCADES 



intsead of running away, turned and ran directly 

 toward me, and, circling- slightly, passed within 

 thirty yards of me, drawn out in single file. It was 

 a golden opportunity and I felt sure I should kill 

 half a dozen of them at least; but, alas! for fleeting 

 hopes. I knew not the frailty of the support on 

 which I built my expectations. I fanned them as long 

 as there was a cartridge in my magazine, and had 

 to endure the intense chagrin of seeing the last one 

 of them go over a ridge a mile away safe and 

 sound. 



I was dumb. If there had been anyone there to 

 talk to, I don' t think I could have found a word in 

 the language to express my feelings. As before, the 

 smoke prevented me from seeing just where my bul- 

 lets struck the ground, but I felt sure they must be 

 striking very close to the game. I sat down, pon- 

 dered, and examined my rifle. I could see nothing 

 wrong with it, and felt sure it must be perfect, for 

 within the past week I had killed a deer with it at 

 170 yards and had shaved the heads off a dozen 

 ^grouse at short range. I was, therefore, forced to 

 the conclusion that I had merely failed to exercise 

 proper care in holding. I returned to my horse, 

 mounted, and once more set out in search of game, 

 determined to kill the next animal I shot at or 

 leave the country. 



I rode away to the west about two miles, and 

 from the top of a high hill saw another band of forty 

 or fifty antelopes on a table-land. I rode around 

 till I got within about two hundred yards of them, 

 when I left my horse under cover of a hill and again 

 began to sneak on the unsuspecting little creatures. 



