THE TAMING OF OL’ BUCK 219 
wind swept and covered only with storm-dwarfed 
pitch pines, with some moss, thin, hardy grasses, 
and a profusion of low shrubs in the rock crannies. 
It was their winter feeding ground, for here the 
wind kept the snow blown off, and between the 
ledge and the peak of the mountain was an ex- 
tensive forest full of evergreens for additional 
food, and shelter. They felt safe up here, too, 
since in winter it was a spot almost inaccessible, 
at any rate a spot where nobody ever came to 
disturb them. 
Still, twice that morning OI’ Buck had fled 
from the man smell in the woods, and now he 
heard unpleasant explosions here and there in 
the distance. He kept pricking his ears nerv- 
ously, and raising his muzzle to sniff the wind. 
The herd wandered, browsing, along the ledges 
till the sun was high overhead, and the noon 
sleepiness came upon them. The fawns and 
some of the does lay down, picking out spots 
where the dead grass made a bed in the warm sun- 
light, but Ol Buck, a young yearling buck, and a 
doe, retraced their steps cautiously. They went 
for some little distance without detecting any 
