94 AN AMERICAN HUNTER 



This lasted until my holiday was over. Some days we 

 had to stay in camp. On other days we hunted ; but there 

 was three feet of new snow on the summits and foothills, 

 making it difficult to get about. We saw no more bear, 

 and, indeed, no more bear-tracks that were less than two 

 or three weeks old. 



We killed a couple of bobcats. The chase of one was 

 marked by several incidents. We had been riding 

 through a blizzard on the top of a plateau, and were glad 

 to plunge down into a steep sheer-sided valley. By the 

 time we reached the bottom there was a lull in the storm 

 and we worked our way with considerable difficulty 

 through the snow, down timber, and lava rock, toward 

 Divide Creek. After a while the valley widened a little, 

 spruce and aspens fringing the stream at the bottom while 

 the sides were bare. Here we struck a fresh bobcat trail 

 leading off up one of the mountain-sides. The hounds 

 followed it nearly to the top, then turned and came down 

 again, worked through the timber in the bottom, and 

 struck out on the hillside opposite. Suddenly we saw the 

 bobcat running ahead of them and doubling and circling. 

 A few minutes afterward the hounds followed the trail 

 to the creek bottom and then began to bark treed. But 

 on reaching the point we found there was no cat in the 

 tree, although the dogs seemed certain that there was; 

 and Johnny and Jake speedily had them again running 

 on the trail. After making its way for some distance 

 through the bottom, the cat had again taken to the side- 

 hill, and the hounds went after it hard. Again they went 

 nearly to the top, again they streamed down to the bottom 



