y before. He had a very definite impression of just where that
sheep was to be found, and he completely ignored the ravines on
either side of the trail.

Not half a mile from the summit of the pass, the Mongol stopped and
said, "_Pan-yang_-on that ridge across the valley." He looked again
and turned to me with a smile. "It is the same ram," he said. "I
knew he would be here." Sure enough, when I found the sheep with my
glasses, I recognized our old friend. The little ewe was with him,
and they had been joined by another ram carrying a circlet of horns,
not far short of the big fellow's in size.

For half an hour we watched them while the Mongols smoked. The sheep
were standing on the very crest of a ridge across the river, moving
a few steps now and then, but never going far from where we first
discovered them. My hunter said that soon they would go to sleep,
and in less than half an hour they filed down hill into the valley;
then we, too, went down, crossed a low ridge, and descended to the
river's edge. The climb up the other side was decidedly stiff, and
it was nearly an hour before we were peering into the ravine where
the sheep had disappeared. They were not there, and the hunter said
they had gone either up or down the valley--he could not tell which
way.

We went up first, but no sheep. Then we crossed to the ridge where
we had first seen the _argali_ and cautiously looked over a ledge of
rocks. There they were, about three hundred yards below, and on the
alert, for they had seen Tom's hunter, who had carelessly exposed
himself on the crest of the ridge. Tom fired hurriedly, neglecting
to remember that he was shooting down hill, and, consequently,
overshot the big ram. They rushed off, two shots of mine falling
short at nearly four hundred yards as they disappeared behind a
rocky ledge.

My Mongol said that we might intercept them if we hurried, and he
led me a merry chase into the bottom of the ravine and up the other
side. The sheep were there, but standing in an amphitheater formed
by inaccessible cliffs. I advocated going to the ridge above and
trying for a shot, but the hunter scoffed at the idea. He said that
they would surely scent or hear us long before we could see them.

Tom and his Mongol joined us in a short time, and for an hour we lay
in the sunshine waiting for the sheep to compose themselves. It was
delightfully warm, and we were perfectly content to remain all the
afternoon amid the glorio