The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1888-10-20

Al GHc DOmlnlOn OF CanaQa. On
OF the best descriptions of huntin,
mountain sheep in the Rookie
ever penned is that contained i
Lord Dunraven's entertaining vol
ume, "The Great Divide" TIL
noble author and his companions
Boteler, Texas Jack and Camp
bell, are lying exhausted on
mountain side, about 1900 fee
above sea-level. Suddenly the,
become aware of something NOV
ing on the opposite slope, and des
scry through their glasses sixteel
sheep quietly nibbling the scanty
grass of these high attitudes. A!
they gaze with eager eyes the war,
sheep catch their wind and bounc
up the mountain and over the ad.
joining ridge in a few minutes
climb which it would take the feetest
of human mountaineers long day
to accomplish. The hunters, stim
ulated by the sight of the much
coveted game, make up their minds
to 60 ahead, and half a mile higher
up they come upon the fresh track
of four big rams. Fatigue and ex-
haustion were instantly forgotten
every sense seemed quickened ;
their pulses throbbed with fever
beats when they became aware that
the animals which they had been
pursuing for days were close at
hand. Presently Boteler, who was
few hundred yards ahead of his
companions, ran back toward them,
his face quivering with excitement.
his mouth open, though no sound
issued from it, and his hands work
ing like the arms of semaphore.
"How well," writes Lord Dunraven,
II remember my sensations. How
my heart beat! Ones circulation
is rather queer at those high alti-
tudes; and Boteler had whispered
that there were very large rams in
the herd which he had sighted, and
good specimens of mountain sheep
are rare The walking was terri
ble, among loose states, shingles
and stones, over which a cat could
not pass without diSlodging some
thing and making a noise. Slowly
with the stones cutting their knees,
and the prickly-pear bushes pierre
ing the hands which grasped them,
they crawl to the top of the ridge.
AS they cautiously peer into the
hollow below, they can see nothing.
but they hear the sheep grazing and
coughing not many yards away.
Presently eve steps into full view,
feeding peacefully, and without a
suspicion of danger. The wind
blows strong in their faces, and
carries the scent of man away in
the right direction, when suddenly
a noble ram emerges from behind a
rock. II scarcely dared to breathe
or wink" says Lord Dunraven. Il
felt hot and cold all over and began
to get the buck agle to such an ex-
tent that | felt | must let go at
something or die" Crack goes the
rifle; the ram gives a huge bound
into the air, and disappears. Such
a rattle of hoofs is heard that the
whole hillside seems alive with
horns. Within twenty yards Of the
spot which he occupied when Lord
Dunraven fired at him, the big ram
is found stone dead.
If it is permissible for the oldest
and most practiced of hunters to
have buck ague under such thrill
ing circumstances, it is not to be
at that an opulent Eng
ishman, who perhaps has not walk
I'd couple of miles at a stretch for
six months, should find his heart
lance and his hand tremble as he
liscerns, in some Scottish deer for
,st, the towering antlers of a royal
stag approaching him from afar.
Too often the "muckle BEAST passes
within thirty or forty yards Of the
.ock behind which the Sassenach
s concealed, and crack crack I! go
he two barrels of the express rifle,
which has cost perhaps 70 or so
,uineas in St. James street or Pic
without producing any Wis
bic effect upon the noble stag at
which the weapon was aimed. Be-
ng heavy deer, and his ribs we'll
ined with fat, the quarry lags
title behind as the tleeter and |
lighter kinds ahead of him, startled |
" the two shots, race up the ad-
dining hill. The Englishman fiat
ers himself that he cannot possibly |
rave missed so big an object, and
insists that the stag is wounded,
nd will shortly drop. The expert
need gillie knows better, and be-
ore long master and man look
ach other in the face and return
liscom6ted to the shooting lodge,
where the former recruits his ex-
lausted energies with that most in
'igorating Of drinks, a glass of
Highland whisky mixed with fresh
milk. Unconsciously many middle
ged and elderly men whose lives
re ordinarily spent among law
edgers, law papers and blue books,