A PECULIAR STALK 125 



branches of trees so as not to snap them and 

 thus make a noise. 



For the first and only time on the whole 

 trip, we were badly pestered with swarms of 

 annoying and aggravating sand flies. These 

 pestiferous insects got into our eyes, ears, and 

 nose, and the farther we went into the deep 

 woods, the worse the nuisance became. A 

 half-hour's crawling on hands and knees 

 brought us within sight of some of the cows. 

 Now we crawled on our stomachs. I held 

 out my rifle before me as we moved, and 

 warily watched for "Brigham." Knowing 

 that we now must be very close to him, every 

 move was well considered before making it. 

 By this time I was nearly choking for wa- 

 ter, as the dried raisins eaten at lunch seemed 

 to clog my throat as if I had swallowed muci- 

 lage. Fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes went 

 by, and yet we had seen nothing of the king. 

 Then the old red cow walked out into a small 

 valley that was covered with rich grass. It 

 was tall and swayed in the breeze. We 

 felt sure now that we must be quite close to 

 his majesty. At last the Chief spied him to 

 my left, and whispered that he was not more 

 than forty yards away. "Shoot, and shoot 

 quick!" he said. At this very particular and 



