BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



but as there was no meat in camp, I determined to try it 

 one day. longer. "Patience and perseverance will bring," 

 they say, "a snail to Jerusalem;" and it certainly is the 

 only secret of luck that a hunter can command in the West, 

 to-day. On the third day, when going along an Elk-trail, 

 many miles from our little temporary camp, in thick brush, 

 about seventy-five yards away, I suddenly saw the fore legs 

 of an Elk. Stepping a few feet out of the trail, 1 got a 

 glimpse of his shoulder, just as he winded us and bounded 

 down the mountain. Fortunately, the trees opened up a 

 little and gave me a chance-shot. 1 was not certain whether 

 I had hit him or not; but following a few yards down the 

 hill, I saw him lying in a heap a splendid bull. We took 

 what meat we needed for ourselves and our friends across 

 the mountain, and having blazed a trail for some two miles, 

 so that we could on our return easily find him in spite of 

 the dense timber, with light hearts we made our way back to 

 camp. There a high time awaited us, for none of the party 

 in our absence had succeeded in killing any game. 



In the course of four or five days, I determined to revisit 

 the carcass, and sit by it in the evening, hoping to kill a 

 Bear. The Elk lay, as I say, in thick timber. It was 

 between five and six in the afternoon when I got within half 

 a mile of the spot. We picketed the horses, and approached 

 the carcass carefully. When within fifty yards, I saw the 

 sign of a good-sized Bear. The earth and the stones and 

 roots had all been torn up. and it was evident that 

 "Ephraim" was preparing a cache in which to secrete his 

 "find. The signs were fresh, and I knew that in all probability 

 the Bear lay close to the carcass. The timber was so dense 

 that when within twenty feet of the Elk I could still see noth- 

 ing. And here we reaped the advantage of having blazed the 

 trail. No matter how carefully the position where the Elk 

 lay had been marked, it would not have been possible, 

 without the blaze on the trees, to note the exact spot, and 

 almost certainly our game woulcl have been scared from the 

 carcass. A few feet more, and through the brush I saw a 

 .UTeat mound of earth. We measured it afterward; it was 



