Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville, and Poets | Page 6

rock, without food or water,
and with only so much powder and shot as each man carried in his
pouch. Still, we had saved our lives and our horses, and had reason to
be thankful. The spot was a bleak one to camp in, but we had no choice.
To protect ourselves from the wind, we built up a hedge of brushwood,
and lighted a fire. Food we could not hope to obtain until the morning,
but Pierre and one of the Indians volunteered to go down to the river,
and to bring some water in a leathern bottle which the Canadian carried
at his saddle-bow. He had also saved a tin cup, but the whole of our
camp equipage had shared the fate of the mules, whatever that might be.
The sky was overcast, and, as we looked out from our height over the
prairie, one vast mass of blackness alone could be seen.
After quenching the thirst produced by the smoke and heat with the
water brought by Pierre and his companion, we lay down to sleep.
At daylight we were on foot. The first thing to be done was to ascertain
the fate of the mules, and the next to obtain some game to satisfy the
cravings of hunger. Pierre and the Indians descended into the plain for
both purposes. Charley and I started off in one direction, and Armitage
and Story in another, with our guns, along the rocky heights which
extended away to the northward, while Dick volunteered to look after
the horses and keep our fire burning.
We went on for some distance without falling in with any large game,
and we were unwilling to expend our powder on small birds. Charley at
last proposed that we should descend into the plain in the hopes of
finding some animals killed by the fire.

"Very little chance of that," I remarked, "for by this time the wolves
have eaten them up. We are more likely, if we keep on, to fall in with
deer on the opposite side, where the fire has not reached."
We accordingly crossed the ridge, and were making our way to the
westward, when we heard Armitage's dog giving tongue in the distance.
"They have found deer, at all events, and perhaps we may be in time to
pick off one or two of the herd," I exclaimed.
We scrambled along over the rocks, until we reached the brink of a low
precipice, looking over which we caught sight of a magnificent buck
with a single dog at his heels. Just then the stag stopped, and, wheeling
suddenly round, faced its pursuer. Near was a small pool which served
to protect the stag from the attack of the hound in the rear. It appeared
to us that it would have gone hard with the dog, for at any moment the
antlers of the stag might have pinned it to the ground. We concluded,
from not hearing the other dogs, that they had gone off in a different
direction, leaving this bold fellow--Lion, by name--to follow his chase
alone.
We crept along the rocks, keeping ourselves concealed until we had got
near enough to take a steady aim at the stag. I agreed to fire first, and,
should I miss, Charley was to try his skill. In the meantime the dog kept
advancing and retreating, seeking for an opportunity to fly at the stag's
throat; but even then, should he succeed in fixing his fangs in the
animal, he would run great risk of being knelt upon. The deer was as
watchful as the dog, and the moment the latter approached, down again
went its formidable antlers. Fearing that the deer might by some chance
escape, taking a steady aim I fired. To my delight, over it rolled, when
we both sprang down the rocks and ran towards it.
While I reloaded, Charley, having beaten off the dog, examined the
deer to ascertain that it was really dead. We then set to work to cut up
our prize, intending to carry back the best portions to the camp.
While thus employed, we heard a shout and saw our companions
approaching with their dogs. They had missed the remainder of the

herd, and were too happy in any way to obtain the deer to be jealous of
our success.
Laden with the meat, the whole of which we carried with us, we
returned to the camp, where we found Dick ready with spits for
roasting it. In a short time Pierre and the Indians returned with the
report that they had found the mules dead, and already almost devoured
by the coyotes, while their cargoes had been blown up, as we feared
would be the case, with the powder they contained. They brought the
spare,