A FOREST FIRE. 175 



five deer. Then pointing to each of his companions 

 in turn, he held up the number of fingers suitable to 

 their achievements and repeated the word. Dyche 

 asked about sheep and the Indian pointed to the moun- 

 tains far to the west. He then asked about goats, 

 or "white sheep." The Indians consulted a little 

 and then pointed to the crags in the northwest and 

 said, " White sheep high up." One Indian supple- 

 mented this information with the remark, " Me no 

 hunt him," whereat the others laughed boisterously. 

 Dyche declined the invitation to "come down," and 

 rode on until a suitable camping-place was found. 



Several days were now spent on the trail over 

 mountains, through masses of rock and down timber, 

 while the whole country was almost obscured by the 

 smoke from fires which were raging on the other 

 side of the range. Finally farther headway was pre- 

 vented by the fire, and in a little valley, through which 

 leaped a sparkling stream and along whose edges 

 grew an abundance of grass, camp was made. A 

 fence of poles behind them and the fire below pre- 

 vented the horses from straying awaj r . As usual, old 

 Charlie would not go away from the tent, and it 

 became necessary to lead him down to the stream to 

 keep him away from the camp. He seemed to pre- 

 fer the smell of the camp to the best grass on the 

 range. During the whole time he was in the moun- 

 tains he always remained within a few yards of the 

 tent unless he was driven away. 



Immediately after camp was made Dyche started 

 on an exploring expedition. A light breeze was 

 blowing the smoke in great clouds up the east side of 



