160 CAMP-FIRES OF A NATURALIST. 



large ones were full of meat, while the small ones 

 were very juicy, and a judicious combination made 

 a very palatable dish. 



Dyche and his companion had now been living on 

 a meat diet for ten days, and they were beginning to 

 feel the effects of it. As they were within a day's 

 journey of Thorp's ranch, a pint of navy beans, which 

 had been held in reserve in case of sickness, was 

 brought out and made into soup. So well did the sup- 

 per please the naturalist that the camp was at once 

 christened Camp Bean Soup in honour of the occasion. 

 Breakfast was made from the rest of the soup next 

 morning, and late in the afternoon they reached 

 Thorp's ranch, tired and hungry. 



Thorp's garden, full of ripe vegetables, had a charm 

 for the hungry hunters, and Dyche regaled himself 

 with tomatoes from the vines. Letters from home 

 were waiting for him by the dozen. The regular rate 

 of postage was twenty-five cents, but Loomis, the 

 postmaster, bunched the lot at ten cents each. 



Several days were spent in packing and storing 

 specimens, but Dyche was not yet ready to leave the 

 country. He knew that Rocky Mountain goats and 

 caribou were to be found somewhere in this vicinity, 

 and he meant to have some of them if possible. Many 

 were the stories told him about the mysterious Kettle 

 River country. There were hundreds of miles of 

 unbroken forests where foot of white man had never 

 trod, where game in vast numbers was so tame that 

 deer would not run when man approached, and 

 where wolves roamed in ferocious bands. While 

 Dyche was a little sceptical about these stoiies, he 



