BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA 387 



There was no doubt as to the new-comers. We were looking 

 upon the finest bit of sheep ground I had ever seen, and the 

 five were worthy of it. There was one enormous ram, two 

 which would have satisfied any man, a fourth such as I had 

 often killed before, and a small fellow. 



Everything seemed to favour us at first. The little glacier 

 at the head of the dark gulch had sent a snow-stream tearing 

 through the hollow, and this had cut a deep course up which 

 we could sneak unseen. I suppose the water must have been 

 bitterly cold, but we crawled through it for ten minutes without 

 so much as noticing that when we had to come down to our 

 knees the icy current ran into our trousers pockets, and 

 though the wind blew off the glacier it was welcome, because for 

 once it was right in our teeth. In the middle of the gulch was a 

 big mound, and 240 yards from this (I measured the distance 

 afterwards) stood the glorious three. Unless we could have 

 burrowed, no man could have crept closer unseen, so that from 

 this point I had to fire. But why tell the story, and what is 

 the good of trying to instruct others when I so often Dreak every 

 rule myself ? Three things I did on that day which I ought 

 not to have done, and I paid the penalty for my folly. First, I 

 took my Indian with me on the stalk, and, of course, at the 

 critical moment he flurried me with his accursed ' Shoot, shoot ! ' 

 He knew what the ram was like upon which I was trying slowly 

 to draw a bead. Then I took two rifles with me upon that 

 trip, and shot sometimes with one, sometimes v ith another. 

 The result was that I shot badly with both, and knew no- 

 thing of either of them. Lastly, when I had missed or only 

 wounded the big ram, I lost my head, and instead of waiting 

 until the beasts should pause for a moment to look back, I fired 

 three fluky shots at them ' on the run.' Not until the big beasts 

 were behind a piece of rolling ground did I realise what a fool I 

 had made of myself, and then, as we wanted meat badly, I took 

 a quiet steady shot at the little ram which had hung behind, 

 and killed him neatly at a good 400 yards a shot which under 

 ordinary circumstances I should never dream of attempting. 



