just before
reaching the crest sank upon their knees, and, crawling a little
further, peeped over the top as if they expected to discover a hostile
camp within a hundred yards.

The prospect caused an involuntary exclamation of pleasure from both.
The valley was two or three hundred yards in width, and, after winding
past, curved out of sight behind the mountain range already referred to.
It was one emerald mass of rich grass, in which ten thousand cattle
could have found abundant pasturage. No trees appeared anywhere except
at the furthest bend in the valley, where a small grove stood near the
middle, and seemed to surround a spring of water, which, flowing in the
other direction, was not within sight of the young hunters.

What lent additional beauty to this landscape was the singular
uniformity of the valley. The slope was gentle on each side, without any
abrupt declivities, and there was hardly any variation in its width. The
dark-green color of the incline and bottom of the valley gave the whole
scene a softness that would have charmed an artist.

The young men admired the picturesque prospect, the like of which they
had never before viewed, and yet it must be confessed that one feature
of the landscape appealed more strongly to them than all the rest.
Perhaps a half-mile away six or eight antelope were cropping the grass,
unconscious of the approach of danger. They were near the small clump of
trees alluded to, and may have lately drank from the water flowing
therefrom. They were in a bunch, all their heads down, and had evidently
taken no alarm from the occasional distant reports of guns.

"I say, Jack, there's a splendid dinner!" whispered Fred, excitedly.

"What good will it do us, so long as it is _there_? I should like to
have it _here_."

"It ought to be easy to pick off one of those creatures; Hank told us
they make fine eating."

"That is all true, but it is also true that the antelope is one of the
most timid of creatures, and the best hunter finds it hard work to get
within reach of them."

"You know how curious they are? The men at the ranch told the other
night about lying down in the grass in the middle of a prairie and
holding up a stick with a handkerchief at the end of it. Timid as was
the antelope, it would gradually draw near to find out what the thing
meant, and pay for its curiosity with its life."

Such incidents are quite common in the West, but neither of the boys
felt it safe to