100 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
I can not leave the Wapitti deer without recording one 
of the numerous adventures that occurred to me while a 
resident in the region that they inhabit. As a rule, my con- 
tretemps in their pursuit were not very exciting, for they 
are a large animal, and, as I have previously said, far from 
as wary as many smaller species of the genus; thus, if the 
first barrel had not effectually done its work of destruction, 
the second seldom failed, for it was a rare occurrence for 
me to draw trigger till within fifty yards. 
I had met in one of the sequestered valleys of the Rocky. 
Mountains, from whence a tributary of the Yellowstone 
flowed, a couple of wanderers. Two more objectionable 
beings it would be difficult to find. The veriest offscour- 
ings of a jail could not excel them in villainy and repulsive- 
ness of appearance. Still, they were white men, and, as 
such, were welcomed as brothers; so we cast lot together, 
and commenced housekeeping in common. The first night 
after our meeting a slight amount of disagreeableness oc- 
curred, through the elder of my new associates being dis- 
covered ransacking my pack, as he said, for tobacco. Now, 
tobacco was scarce in these regions; and although I would 
willingly have shared with a friend, still, I objected to be 
deprived of what was as important to me as my molars by 
an individual I knew nothing about, and still more, already 
had acquired an intuitive dislike to. Happily, next day we 
were joined by a new-comer, or I believe a row would have 
taken place, for I could see that an entente cordiale existed 
between the duo far from amicable to my interests. How- 
ever, the stranger’s advent acted as a sedative, and the most 
acute could not have imagined that aught but the most per- 
fect comradeship existed among us. Some time after the 
sun went down a game of euchre was proposed. Never 
having cared particularly about cards, I said nothing; so 
the movement was carried without opposition. The stran- 
