A HUNTER'S CAMP-FIRES 



When this animal, which was one of the meanest old-timers in 

 the outfit, realized the opportunity for mischief which it had 

 overlooked, it gave vent to its feelings in such an exhibition of 

 bucking and kicking that we had great difficulty in removing 

 the pack-saddle at all. We spent the remainder of the after- 

 noon in pitching camp. 



After the more or less uncomfortable ranches of the lower 

 country, it was a great relief that night to sit out under the 

 stars in front of a cheerful, crackling camp-fire. Ed had come 

 West at the time of the gold excitement in the Black Hills 

 during the seventies, and had followed almost every exciting 

 calling of the frontier since that time. He now entertained 

 me with a series of interesting, if somewhat racy, episodes of 

 his past life. He had persuaded me to take the trip into this 

 country with the prospect of securing some heads of mountain 

 moose, and while he was presumably the guide, I was gradually 

 to discover that his real object was to secure and "cache" suf- 

 ficient meat for his family for the coming winter. For this rea- 

 son, as well as to protect himself from various enemies, among 

 whom he included certain local minions of the law, he continu- 

 ally carried a .303 Savage, in the use of which he was very pro- 

 ficient. He certainly was a picturesque character, and added 

 more local color to the trip than was absolutely necessary. 



The next morning we had breakfast at daylight, saddled our 

 two picketed riding -animals, and started through a series of 

 beaver meadows which led up the valley of the right branch of 

 the creek. During the morning we rode steadily ahead, seeing 

 fresh signs of elk, blacktail deer, and bear, as well as numerous 

 older moose-tracks. The moose which inhabit these mountains, 

 and which are probably the most southerly of this species of 

 deer in North America, are much smaller in body and antlers 

 than the eastern animal. This is largely due to the fact that 

 they range over a very mountainous and rather dry country 

 not altogether suited for a swamp and timber-loving animal. 



296 



