old camp.

The next morning broke dismally with the floodgates of the heavens open
and the rain coming down in torrents. I lay among my rugs and smoked one
pipe after another in order to keep down my appetite, for there was
little chance of making a fire to cook with. In fact, most of the day
was passed in this way, for all the wood had become thoroughly
water-soaked.

Late in the afternoon we succeeded in getting a fire started and had a
square meal. While we were crouched around the blaze the natives saw
sheep on the hills just above us, but it was raining so hard that it was
impossible to tell if they were rams. In fact, when sheeps' coats are
saturated with water they do not show up plainly when seen at any
distance, and might easily be mistaken for wet rocks.

The next day opened just as dismally, with the storm raging harder than
ever, but by eleven o'clock it began to let up, and we soon had our
things drying in the wind, for the clouds looked threatening, and we
feared the rain would begin again at any time.

As we were short of provisions and depended almost entirely upon meat,
my head man and I started at once for the hills. The little stream by
our camp was swollen into a rushing torrent, and we were obliged to go
almost to its source--a miniature glacier--before we could wade it.
Climbing to the crest of the mountains on which we had seen the sheep
the evening before, and following just under the sky line, we soon saw a
large and two small rams feeding on a sheltered ledge before us.

We much feared that they would get: our scent, but by circling well
around we succeeded in making a fair approach. I should have had an
excellent shot at the big ram had not one of the smaller ones given the
alarm. The gale was coming in such gusts that it was difficult to take a
steady aim, and at my first shot the bullet was carried to one side. I
fired again just as the sheep were passing from view, and succeeded in
breaking the leg of the big ram. Hunter and I now raced after him, but
the hillside was so broken that it was impossible to locate him, so my
man went to the valley below where he could get a good view and signal
to me.

It is always well in hill shooting to have an understood code of signals
between your man and yourself. The one which I used and found most
satisfactory provided that if my man walked to the right or left it
meant that the game was in either of these directions; if he walked away
from the