The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-11-30

scanning the ground ati-about with tile
ield.glasses. But we saw no sheep
and but little sign Of them.
Finally we struck the head Of a long,
winding valley with a smooth bottom.
and after cantering down it four OF
i've miles, came to the river. just after
the cold, pale-red sun had sunk behind
the line Of hills ahead OF us. Our
horses were sharp shod, and crossed
the Ice without difficulty; and In a
grove Of leafess cotton.woods, on tlO
opposite side, we found the hut for
which We had been making, the COW.
boy already inside with the ire
started. Throughout the night the
temperature sank lower and lower.
and 1t was impossible to keep the
crazy old hut anywhere near freezing
point; the wind whistled through the
chinks md crannies Of the logs, and,
after q short and by no means elab.
crate supper, we were glad TO cover
down with our great fur coats still on.
under the pile Of buffalo robes and
bear skins. My sleeplng-bag came In
very hapdily. and kept me as warm as
possible, in spite of the bitter frost.
We we're up and had taken breakfast
next morning by the time the first
streak Of dawn had dlmmed the bril-.
llancy Of the stars, and Immediately
afterwards strobe off on foot, as we
had been hampered by the horses on
the day before. This day. though the
weather had grown even colder. we did
not feel it, for we walked all the while
with q quick pace, and the climbing
was very hard work. The shoulders
and lodges Of the cliffs had become
rornd and slippery with the ice. and It
was no easy eask to move up and
along them. clutching the gun in one
hand, and grasping each little projec.
ton with the other.
When on the way back to camp. where
the buttes rose highest and steepest,
we came upon fresh tracks, but as It
was then late in the afternoon, did not
try to follow them that day. When
lear the hut l killed a snarptail for
supper, making rather a neat shot, tho
bird being eighty yards OF. The night
was even colder than the preceding
one, and oil signs told us that We
would soon have a change for thu
worse IN the weather, which made me
doubly anSlcrs to get a sheep before
the storm struck us. We determined
that next morning we would take the
horses and make a quick push for the
chain OF high buttes where we had
sec the fresh tracks, and hunt them
through with thorough care.
We started In the cold gray Of the
morning and pricked rapidly or over
the frozen plain. columns Of white
steam rising from the nostrtIs Of the
galloplng horses. When we reached
the foot of the hills where we intended
to hunt, and had tethered the horses.
the sun had already risen. but It was
evident that the clear weather Of fort.
night past was over. The air was thick
aud hNzy, and away Off In the north.
west towering mass of graytsh white
clouds looked like a weather breeder;
every thing BODIED a storm ut no dis.
tant date. The country over which we
now hunted was wilder and more
mountainous than any we had set
STRUCK. High, sharp peaks and ridges
broke of abruptly into narrow gorges
and deep ravines: they were bare Of
all but the scantiest vegetation. save
on some of the sheltered sides where
grew groves of dark pines, now laden
down with feathery snow. The climb.
Ing was as hard us ever. At first we
went straight up the side Of the ta!lest
peal, and then along the knife,ilke
ridge which Joined 1t with the next.
The Ice made the footing very slippery
as We stepped along the lodges or
crawled round the jutting shoulders,
and We had to look carefully for our
foottoids; while In the cold, thin air
every quick burst we made up a steep
hill caused us to pant for breath. We
had gone but n little way before We
saw fresh signs Of the animals We
were after, but 1t was some time be-
fore we came upon the quarry Itself,
We left the high ground and de-
scendtng into a marrow chasm walked
along its bottom. which was but a
couple Of feet wide, while the sides
rose M from 1t at an acute angle.
After following this for a few hundred
yards, We turned n sharp corner, and
shortly afterward our eyes were
caught by some grains Of fresh earth
lying on the snow in front Of our feet.
On the sides, some feet above our
heads, were marks in the snow which
a moments glance showed US had been
made by a couple Of mountain sheep
that had come down one side Of the
gorge and had leaped across to the
other. their sharp toes going through
the thin snow and dlsplacing the earth
that had fallen to the bottom. The
tracks had evidently been made Just
before we rounded the corner, and as
we had been advancing n~oiselesly on
the snow with the wind In our favor.
we knew that the animals could have
no suspicion of our presence. They
bad gone mp the cllf on our right, but
as that on our left was much lower,
and running for some distance parallel