American Big-Game Hunting 



my clothes on, and we looked at my watch. It 



was only 4.30 a. m. T and the Great 



Bear had made half an hour's miscalculation, 

 and the face of the cook was so grievous that 

 I secretly laughed myself entirely awake. 

 "Plumb niorht" lasted some time longer. I 

 had leisure to eat two plates of oatmeal and 

 maple syrup, some potato-and-onion soup, 

 bacon, and coffee, and digest these, before 

 dawn showed, 



T and I left camp at 6.40 a. m. The 



day was a dark one. On the high peaks 

 behind camp great mounds of cloud moved 

 and swung, and the sky was entirely overcast. 

 We climbed one of the lower ridges, not a 

 hard climb nor long, but very sliding, and 

 often requiring hands and feet to work round 

 a ledge. From the top we could see the open 

 country lying comfortably below and out of 

 reach of the howling wind that cut across 

 the top of the mountain, straight from Puget 

 Sound, bringing all that it could carry of the 

 damp of the Pacific. The ridges and summits 

 that surrounded our park continually came 

 into sight and disappeared again among the 

 dense vapors which bore down upon them. 



38 



