At St. Mary's 



up. Our .horses, led with long, loose rein, 

 impeded us but little, picking their way 

 along our foot-tracks with precaution and 

 precision. They seemed to feel the effect 

 of the rarefied air more than we ; their 

 breathing came short and quick. We 

 were nearly seven thousand feet high. 



We finally reached the top, only to find 

 that the rocks made it impracticable for 

 mounted work; so we tied our horses, 

 washing we had left them down at the 

 timber-line. 



A short rest, and we started afoot along 

 the summit of the long mountain. Not 

 knowing the habits of the game we were 

 seeking, we had no definite idea as to the 

 best method of hunting it. Well, we 

 would just clamber along over these moun- 

 tains, and trust to luck to fall in with some- 

 thing in the course of the day. The clouds 

 were hanging low and thick ; we were sur- 

 rounded by them, in fact, and our field of 

 vision was limited to a narrow circle. 



An hour of this mountain travel, down 

 dale and up slope, through the long, wet 

 grass, over the jagged rock and the treach- 

 erous shale, an hour of this, and we 

 were ready for a rest. 



We sat down within the edge of a 

 growth of pine on the side of a gentle 



272 



