184 EARLY DAY STORIES. 



ready to start as soon as it was light. Dan gave the elk 

 up to me, saying, 'They are yours by right of discovery," 

 and shouldering his rifle started off in an opposite direction. 

 It did not make much difference at that early day, and in 

 that part of the country where one hunted — there was game 

 to be found almost every day, though it could not always 

 be brought down. 



It was not very difficult to approach the elk, but it took 

 a long time, as a distance of at least three miles had to be 

 traversed to reach them, although the elk were not much, 

 if any, more than a mile away to the west of north, they 

 still being on the north edge of an intervening valley about 

 a mile wide. First, I followed down the valley to the south- 

 east about a half mile, hidden by a low ridge, then crossed 

 the valley to the northeast, about a mile from the elk, but 

 most of the time in sight of them. Much of the way in the 

 valley the grass was tall enough to partially screen one from 

 sight. At that distance, however, either elk or deer do not 

 seem to notice a man walking — antelope would probably 

 have seen me and would have run down within a quarter of 

 a mile, or so, to make an investigation. After gaining the 

 low rolls of sand hills and knolls on the north side of the 

 valley the rest of the approach was quite easy. When within 

 fifty or sixty rods of the game there was an intervening 

 tract of low wet ground with coarse grass, crisscrossed by 

 game trails and in places covered with ice. This had to be 

 crossed by crawling on hands and knees. The weather had 

 been moderate enough for the ice to melt somewhat, making 

 it wet and sloppy part of the way. Before getting near 

 enough to shoot, my mittens were wet through and my feet 

 and legs were wet to the knees. However, similar, or even 

 worse, conditions are not uncommon in hunting. One can- 

 not choose the place where the game will be found, and if 

 he cannot undergo some unpleasant phases, such as wet feet, 



