THE SHADOW OF THE WITCH CROWN 



47 



for it ; and he again climbs until he 

 fears death, scales the cliffs, passes the 

 night on the pinnacle while crouched, 

 sleepless, and watching the moonlight 

 set that upper world of snow and ice 

 to glittering*. He does see and shoot 

 at one of the bucks, misses, and appears 

 in camp the next day to not only vow 

 but swear that he wants the camp brok- 

 en and the return journay started the 

 next morning. He sleeps "around the 

 clock," eats for four ; his growls gradu- 

 ally change to renewed longing as he 

 sees another sheep ; and, always hoping, 

 he climbs again, gripped by the com- 

 bined charm of the hunt and of that 

 Sky World, a mesmerism whose power 

 is known only to those who have actual- 

 ly felt it. 



Vain trials, and the draining of the 

 cup of chagrin ! Oh, for more camp 



WAIF OF THE HIGHEST HILLS 



supplies, and another week here ! But 

 Dan has secured the heads of two goats 

 and we have the purchased horns of a 

 sheep, all we could show for a month 

 of expensive hardship. Frank wonders 

 and asks, 



"They call this fun. Is it?" 

 But we also returned with much that 

 we could not show, — memories of 

 places and scenes whose peer probably 

 do not exist in the world. 



That trip has become easy. Chalets, 

 lodges and resting cabins have been 

 placed along the far smoother trail, 

 even to the Laughing and Twin Falls. 

 The fishing has become poor ; and not 

 even a field glass will reveal the pres- 

 ence of a sheep on the peaks. But the 

 wild grandeur and stern majesty (I use 

 the strong language deliberately) re- 

 main, and may be reached in compara- 

 tive comfort. 



One of the attractions of the region 

 is the mingling of the quiet, almost im- 

 perishable hills "ancient as the sun," 

 with the fragility and evanescence of 

 the rainbows and the wild flowers. 

 Some of the sheltered nooks have 

 grassy slopes, facing southward that 

 are starred with big wood-violets right 

 below eternal ice not a hundred feet 

 away. Acres of lilies of the valley 

 growing wild and perfuming 

 all the air ; the dull red of the 

 rhododendron bloom ; the 

 pink, apple-blossom hues of 

 the laurel flower ; and great 

 patches of wild roses, the 

 wry necked goblin thistles ; 

 these, in turn, will startle 

 and enchant the hunter and 

 climber. Sometimes when 

 guided by his happy star, he 

 will find a flower much like 

 the lonely edelweis nodding 

 in the crisp air. Two of 

 these blossoms, carefully 

 plucked, pressed and dried, 

 are before me. They grew 

 above the spring at our per- 

 manent camp where the two 

 branches of the Yoho came 

 together. The spring de- 

 serves honorable mention. Although 

 Dan is practical and rather cynical, he 

 "breaks" into poetry, as follows : 



It was just a little violet on the bank above 

 the spring, 

 Just a tiny point of blue a-nodding in the 

 saucy air. 

 And as we saw the beauty of that wee and 

 winsome thing, 

 We felt that it was glad to see us back and 

 drinking there. 



