126 THE UPPER YUKON 



important point, I was practically stran- 

 gling, as one of the little sand flies had gotten 

 down my throat and I was nearly paralyzed in 

 an endeavor to keep from coughing. With 

 my left hand pressed tightly against my mouth, 

 and with my face closely hugging the ground, 

 I had to cough, no less than three times (and 

 it couldn't have been helped if all the moose 

 in the country had been before me). And 

 what think you happened? 



His majesty heard the coughing and, with 

 lightning-like speed, he gave the signal to his 

 herd to run more quickly than I can write it, 

 and not only he but every member of the herd 

 was out of sight in a minute. 



The Chief said some strong words in a very 

 strong voice, and when I at last found my 

 speech I said: ''Chief, I don't swear myself, 

 but I'll give you leave to swear as much, and 

 as hard as you can, until you are once more 

 at ease." 



We picked up the trail of "Brigham" and 

 found by his tracks and those of the others, 

 that all of the herd had run away as fast 

 as they could go; so it was useless to follow 

 them. It was a discouraging ending to our 

 three days' stalk. As night was upon us, we 

 wended our way back to camp. Neither of 



