THE FIRST BIG-HORN. 137 



When the ram would reach down for a mouthful of 

 grass Dyche would crawl along, as rapidly as pos- 

 sible, down the side of the ridge into the little park 

 between the two ridges. He took advantage of every 

 rock and hole in the ground, and in this way reached 

 the foot of the central ridge in about fifteen minutes, 

 while the ram was feeding just over the crest and 

 out of sight. 



Now came a series of movements between gliding 

 and crawling towards the top. Dyche had marked the 

 spot where the ram was feeding and worked his way 

 to it, getting closer and closer to the place where the 

 ram had last been seen. Just as he was working to 

 the top of the ridge he heard a scrambling noise on the 

 other side. Springing to his feet, with his gun for- 

 ward and ready, he saw the ram going at full speed 

 towards the timber. A hasty shot and the animal was 

 seen to falter, but quickly gathering itself together 

 it went on. Another quick shot and the ram disap- 

 peared around the edge of the crag. Dyche ran to 

 the end of the ridge, where he had a clear view of 

 the slope leading to the woods, but not a sign of the 

 ram was to be seen. A search along the edge of the 

 ridge showed the old fellow standing about seventy- 

 five yards below, apparently hard hit. Dyche's gun 

 was at his shoulder almost instinctively, but the 

 shot was not fired, for the sheep gave a lurch for- 

 wards and went tumbling down the side of the moun- 

 tain. Hurrying after him, Dyche found a magnifi- 

 cent specimen and hastened to take advantage of the 

 fading light to make anatomical notes and measure- 

 ments. He found that the eyes, which the books 



