CHAPTER XI
TRACKS IN THE SNOW
Meantime Joe had proceeded with his butchering and after he hadfinished, gathered some wood and made himself a little fire. Ittook some time to do this, for almost everywhere the wood was wet;but by looking carefully he found some dry branches that weresheltered by the foliage above them, and others that lay under afallen tree, and presently he had a good fire lighted, and onethat was so strong that he could throw wet wood on it and it wouldsoon dry and burn. He built his fire in a sheltered place, and thelight breeze drifted the smoke off down the stream. Before long hewas warm and dry. After he had waited a while, he went out beyondthe trees and looked off toward the ridge where Jack had gone,to see whether he was not yet coming back, but he saw nothing. Alittle later he went out again and Jack was not yet in sight, butas he turned about he saw coming down the hill about half a mileoff, thirteen elk, mostly cows and calves, but one spikehorn, andfollowing last of all and keeping the others together a monstrousbull with a great pair of horns. Of course when he saw them Joestood still. The elk had come down from some higher hill, andwhen they came to where the snow was not very deep they began toscatter out and feed. When most of them had passed behind the pointof hill which backed the next ridge above the one Joe was on, hebegan to move very slowly and cautiously toward the shelter of aclump of trees. Every now and then, one of the old cows would lifther head, and as she munched the grass that she had just plucked,would look all around the horizon, and when she did so, Joe stoodwithout moving a muscle. Then when all the heads were down again,he very slowly moved a little toward his cover. At last only oneof the elk was in sight, and when she put her head down he couldsee nothing but her back and hips, and two or three steps tookhim out of sight even of these. Still he did not run, but walkedslowly, watching closely the sky-line above him, for at any momentone of the elk might walk up there to look over the country. Noneappeared, however, and in a very few moments he was hidden by thetrees.
Now he did not know what to do. His first idea was to creep up tothe ridge and kill some of the elk, but before he determined thathe would do this he considered. He remembered how Hugh often spokeof not killing anything more than they needed to eat, and he knewthat these deer that they had would last them for a long time.He did not wish to do anything that Hugh would not like, and so,instead of deciding that he would kill anything, he took his gunand walked over to the ridge, to look at the elk. He had crept upto the top of the hill and peered over, and was watching the elkfeeding not far in front of him--half a dozen of them within easyrifle-range--when he heard a faint whoop behind him, and turninghis head saw Jack coming with the pack-horses. Slowly creeping backa little way, Joe waved to him to come on, and to hurry, and Jackgalloped the pack horses over to the foot of the ridge, and at asign from Joe, dismounted. Then he crept up to Joe and they bothlay there on the hill and watched the elk.
It was a pretty sight, and an interesting one, too. The bull,although all the time feeding, seemed to keep close watch of hiscompanions. Once in a while one of the cows would stray off toa little distance from the others, and the bull would walk overtoward her, shaking his head as he approached, and when the cow sawthis she turned back to the bunch and joined them again. Then thebull began to feed once more.
"Watch him," said Joe, "he's a pretty good herder, isn't he? Hewon't let one of those cows wander away; he's afraid that somewherethere might be some other old bull looking for cows, that wouldtake her and carry her off. Pretty smart at this time of year theyare."
While they were watching the herd as they fed along a little beyondthem, presently some eddy of the wind brought their scent to thecows farthest down the stream, and they lifted up their heads,and looked for a moment; then turned and trotted swiftly away upthe hill. As soon as they did this, the other cows began to look,and then to move off; but the bull seemed to understand at oncethat there was danger near at hand, and rushed around the cows,thrusting at them with his horns, so that in a moment they wereall in motion, and swiftly trotting away. At the top of the hillthe cows paused to look back; but the bull, which was laboringalong behind, shook his head at them, and they began to run again.When the elk had disappeared, the boys rose to their feet, and thenrealized that they were both of them chattering with cold. Thebreeze was blowing harder now, and lying on the hillside exposedto it, they had both become chilled. They went down to the horsesand took them over to where the deer lay and then built up the fireand got warm again. Then they packed the deer on the two horses,but the animals were so large that they could not lift them withoutcutting them up into quarters. At last the loads were arranged, theropes tightened, and they started down the hill toward camp, whichthey reached just before dark.
Supper was ready, and as soon as the boys had hung up their meat onthe branches of a tree, and had washed their hands in the brook,they fell to eagerly. Not much was said during the meal, but afterit had been cleared away and Hugh had filled his pipe and wassitting by the fire comfortably smoking, Jack said to him, "Hugh,we had a mighty nice view of a bunch of elk this afternoon, andwatched them for quite a while, and saw the old bull gather up thecows and drive them away when they found that we were there."
"Yes," said Hugh, "haven't you ever seen a bull do that before?"
"No," said Jack, "I've seen plenty of elk but I never happened tosee that."
"Well," said Hugh, "you know the bull elk is mighty rough with hiscows, after he has gathered them and got a bunch, and what is more,when he is looking for them in the early fall, just about thistime, he is mighty systematic in the way he hunts for them. I'vesat on a hill and seen an old bull hunt out a lot of ravines in theelk country just as systematically as a cow-puncher would hunt themout for cattle. He makes a regular business of it, and after he'sgot them together he don't allow any straggling, and if a cow don'tmind what he says, and he can catch her, he gives her a terriblethumping with those old horns of his."
"Well, Hugh, did you ever see two bulls fight?"
"Yes," said Hugh, "I've seen 'em do that a good many times. Ireckon I've told you about that before. They don't fight quickly;they're not active like an antelope when they're fighting: butthey're mighty powerful, and they come together pretty hard, andthen they just push and push, and at last, if the footing is good,the biggest one is pretty sure to push the other out of the way,and if the smaller one doesn't hop round pretty lively, he getsa good punch with the horns. I've heard tell of elk killing eachother when they fought; but I never saw anything like that, and Inever even saw an elk get cut up with the horns of an animal thathe was fighting with. Of course I never had a chance to look closeat many elk that I saw fighting, but I never could see any bloodor any cuts. An elk-hide is pretty thick, and I guess they justscratch and bruise each other.
"I've heard of elk-horns being locked, same as deer-horns oftenare, but I never myself saw but one pair; they were locked and youcould not pull them apart. I heard that some chap bought them, upon the Missouri River, to send back east to some museum."
"Well, I tell you, Hugh," said Jack, "I don't think much of elk,anyhow, except to eat. You remember that tame one we had down atthe ranch? There wasn't anything interesting or nice about him; hewas awkward and clumsy and mean. Of course he looked nice, but thatwas about all."
"No," said Hugh, "that's so; elk meat is good, but that's about allelk are good for--to eat."
The next morning the sun came out bright and strong, and the snowbegan to melt rapidly. Lines were strung among the trees, and allthe blankets, ropes and saddles, which had been more or less wetduring the last day or two, were hung up to dry. The flesh of thedeer was sliced into thin flakes, and hung up on scaffolds made byJoe and Hugh, and under this a small fire was made, and the smokepassing under the flakes of meat partially dried it. The hams andsaddle of one of the deer were kept for fresh meat.
"I'd like to get off this afternoon," said Hugh, toward midday. "Ofcourse it's early in the season yet, and no heavy snow is likely tofall; but often we have a sto
rm late in September that might stopus for a week, and I'd be pleased if we could get over the ridgebefore that comes. We must start as soon as these things get dry,and as soon as that meat will do to pack; it's pretty fat, and itwon't dry fast in this kind of weather; this air is too damp."
In the effort to hurry up the drying process they built a largefire near the wet things that were hung up, and as the heat fromthe fire and from the sun grew strong, the steam rose from them. Alittle after noon, Hugh, who had been inspecting the things, said,"Come on, now; let's saddle up. The robes and blankets are dry, andwe'll shove this meat in a sack and give it another steaming whenwe get to a good place. The weather is cool enough now so that itwill keep until we get over the range." Before long the packs werelashed, and all the members of the party were in the saddle andpushing their way up the stream.
There was now no visible trail. The snow covered everything, andthough it was dripping fast from the trees at their level, theycould see that on the higher hills it still hung thick upon thebranches. From time to time the stream narrowed, so that they wereobliged to leave it and climb the ridges, which often afforded muchbetter going than the creek bottom. As they climbed higher andhigher, everything was draped in white; but now the sun went behindthe clouds, and the glare of the white snow was not uncomfortable.Hugh had said as they started, "You boys better take and blackenyour faces; I am going to do it;" and taking some charcoal from thefire, each of the party rubbed the black over the upper parts ofthe face, the cheeks, the bridge of the nose, and around the eyes,to keep the glare from the snow from affecting the eyes.
They climbed higher and higher, and as they climbed, the streamgrew smaller. From time to time they reached some point fromwhich there was an extended view, showing far-reaching, snow-cladmountains and evergreen forests; and ahead of them the high peaksof the main divide, with precipices of bare black rock, to whichthe snow could not cling. As they passed along, Jack noticedfrequent tracks of deer and elk, and others of smaller animalswhich he did not recognize, and which there was no time to stopand ask about. Hugh rode fast, and the boys kept the animals closebehind him. Often for a little distance through an open valley, oralong a bare ridge, Hugh would trot or gallop. He was evidentlyanxious to get on.
It was growing dark when, at the head of a pretty, open valley,Hugh turned his horse into the timber, and after looking around fora moment, said, "We'll camp here, boys. Bring the horses right upclose to Baldy." They did so, and soon had the loads on the ground.Poles were quickly cut, the lodge was put up, and the ground withinit was soon cleared of snow, and a fire started. Then, under Hugh'sdirection, the boys went out and broke several armfuls of spruceboughs, which they brought in and placed around the walls of thelodge where the beds would be spread, to keep them off the snow.Two of the horses had already been picketed and the others hobbled.There was danger that night they might desert, and take the backtrail for the lower ground, where, of course, they well rememberedthat there was good grass, while up here to get anything to eatthey would have to paw through the deep snow.
"You boys had better cook supper," said Hugh. "I'm going down tothe end of this valley, to see if I can't stop it up in some way sothat the horses can't get away to-night; they're likely to leaveus, and if they do, we'll have to hunt them to-morrow."
Before entering this valley they had passed up through a narrowcanyon, riding for a short distance in the stream-bed, and Hugh, whohad noticed two or three spruce trees standing on either side ofthe stream, took an axe, went down there, and felling two of thetrees across the stream, made a fence that the horses could notsurmount. They could possibly get around by climbing high on thehillside, but as all the loose ones were hobbled, it was not likelythat they would go very far up hill.
When he returned to the camp supper was ready, and before long theywere all fast asleep.
The next morning was bright and cold. No more snow had fallen.The horses were all there, but those that had been hobbled lookedgaunt and hungry. Hugh was up before daylight and took off theirhobbles, and when the sun rose they were all busily at work gettingwhat must have been their supper and breakfast. When their frontfeet were tied together, they could not paw through the snow to thegrass beneath.
"Now boys," said Hugh, as soon as breakfast was over, "let's saddleup and get along. I'd like mightily to get over the range to-day,if we can." It took but a short time to get started, for the threehad now been working together so long that they wasted no time, andmade no unnecessary motions.
Neither of the boys had noticed the night before how deep the snowwas; but to-day they could see that down here under the trees itwas eight or ten inches deep, though perhaps in the open where ithad a chance to melt or to blow off there was not so much.
As they went forward, Jack was more and more interested in thetracks. Down at the foot of a canyon wall in the valley he saw aseries of tiny parallel dots in the snow, which he thought musthave been made by a little striped squirrel, which had run outfrom the broken rock-fragments where he had his home, down nearlyto the water's edge, and then, frightened by some sight or sound,had turned and hurried, with long bounds, back to his rocky home.Higher up on the hill, about every weed-stalk that showed above thesurface of the snow were numbers of long parallel depressions, andscattered about on the snow were fragments of the seed-cases of theplants, and strips of the bark of the stem. Here the birds had beenat work, and so hard pressed for food that they had visited almostevery projecting plant.
There had been killing during the night; death had been abroad,travelling over the barren hills, and pushing his way among thethickly clustered pines. There had been battles and ambuscades, andstern unrelenting pursuits; fierce struggles; resistance, feebleand unavailing; despair, and, at last, yielding, when the hope ofescape was lost. More than one life had gone out that night on thehillside. Here, close to the margin of a little brook, was a pileof bright blue feathers, telling its story of death, and near itin the light snow, long, light strokes, which told of some fiercebird, that, in the gray light of the morning, had crushed in hisstrong crooked talons a little blue-bird which was just beginninghis journey toward the south. There were tracks of a fox windingabout on the hillside, often quartering the ground like a welltrained hunting dog. He had covered much ground, and had visitedevery spot that might give shelter to his prey. In one place Jacksaw the tracks of a grouse, and those of a fox following them, thensuddenly the tracks of the grouse were seen no more, the last twosunk deep in the snow, showing where the bird had sprung from theground and had darted away among the snow-laden trees. A few feetfrom these, Jack could see where the fox had stopped when the birdtook flight, and he could fancy how angrily the sly fellow gazedafter it as he saw his wished-for breakfast disappear. A littlefurther on the fox had been more lucky, and a hole dug in the snowand a tuft or two of bluish fur showed where the keen-nosed hunterhad caught a mouse.
At the border of a grove of pines, Jack saw the impress of thegreat pads of the snowshoe rabbit, scarcely sinking into thelight snow. For the most part, the rabbits kept close under theevergreens where the snow was less deep, and food most easily tobe found; but if startled by fox or wolf, they could readily runover the drifts, where the heavier pursuer must sink into them, farbehind.
As they climbed higher and higher, the trees grew larger, andnow they began to see, through the valley and coming down fromthe higher hills on either side, the tracks of elk. The heavysnow-fall, warning these animals of the near approach of winter,had set them in motion down from the peaks, and everywhere trailswere seen leading from the hillside into the valley. They saw noneof the animals, for the footfalls of the pack-train clambering overthe rocks, the sound of dead branches rattling against the packs,and the calls to the horses alarmed the elk at a distance, and theyretreated to the timber, out of sight.
Presently the climbing seemed at an end for the present, and thevalley became more open and nearly level. Not far ahead off to thesoutheast they could see a low pass in the mountains, which seeme
dlikely to be the one they were trying to find. As they ascended,the stream continued to grow smaller, large branches, almost equalin size to the main brook kept coming into it, and often it wasuncertain which was the main fork. Hugh gave no hint of what waspassing in his mind, but pushed on, and the boys kept the animalsclose behind him.
In this broad level valley there were more elk tracks than ever.These, seen at a distance, were very pretty, often looking like twodelicate chains laid side by side, and running for a long distancealmost in a straight line. Sometimes the animals seemed to havewandered about, biting off the heads of the grass and weeds thatstood above the snow; but always at last the tracks turned and kepton down the valley. In the middle of the great meadow stood anold pine stub, and a number of the tracks converged to this, andthen went away from it in one path. It seemed that the elk, comingalong, had gone to this stump, and rubbed against it, and then allfollowed the same trail going away.
As the afternoon advanced, the valley grew narrow again and theyentered the timber, and soon afterward came on what was evidentlya trail that had been travelled both by whites and Indians. Someof the trees were blazed with an axe, but many years ago, for thebark had partly grown over the old blazes; there were later markswhere little three-cornered patches of the bark had been knockedoff, showing where the hard corners of packs had struck againstthe trees. On one or two of the trees were seen little woolenthreads, white and red, showing where some Indian's blanket hadrubbed against the trunk and left a little sign, to remain therefor years. At length, the trail again passed out of the timber intoa narrow valley, and a sharp climb brought them to a place wherewater seemed to be flowing down hill both before and behind them.Hugh stopped and waved his hand and pointed ahead; and beyond theycould see a valley, steep-walled and full of timber, stretching offtoward the southeast.