Trail and Camp-Fire 



there was absolutely no cover, and the plain 

 between the caribou and ourselves was dead 

 level. To make a circle sufficient to obtain 

 cover meant a three-mile tramp, with the pros- 

 pect that the caribou would be gone when we 

 got to the end of it. So we decided to go a 

 short distance to the right to avoid having the 

 wind blow directly from us to the animals, and 

 then to crawl up on them over the flat and 

 open barren. 



I now did a very foolish thing. It was bit- 

 terly cold, and the water was icy, but I threw 

 aside my gloves, nor'wester hat, and mackin- 

 tosh topcoat, and began my stalk with naked 

 head, and hands and body covered by only a 

 thin flannel shirt. For a solid hour we wrig- 

 gled forward inch by inch, through the rain 

 and fog, stopping every time a cow raised her 

 head. Flat on our stomachs we squirmed 

 along, and in that position, more in the mud 

 and water than out, we covered the best part 

 of a mile. 



Long before we had crawled near enough 

 to be in anything like passable range a fourth 

 bull joined the herd, and immediately a fight 

 began. The biggest of the three original 

 bulls attacked him, and they closed, and for 



308 



