t were both wet and muddy.

"Teddy Roosevelt didn't like that wetting, and I know it," one of the
cowboys has said since. "But he didn't grumble near as much as some of
the others. We had to take our medicine, and he took his like a man."

There were no elk in the immediate vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt's
ranches, nor were there many bears or buffaloes. But all of these
animals were to be met with further westward, and the young ranchman had
been after them during a previous year's hunting while on a trip to
Montana and Wyoming.

At that time the destination of the party was the Bighorn Mountains,
which were reached only after a painful and disheartening journey over a
very uncertain Indian trail, during which one of the ponies fell into a
washout and broke his neck, and a mule stuck fast in a mud-hole and was
extricated only after hours of hard work.

"It was on the second day of our journey into the mountains that I got
my first sight of elk," says Mr. Roosevelt. The party was on the trail
leading into a broad valley, moving slowly and cautiously along through
a patch of pine trees. When the bottom of the valley was gained, Mr.
Roosevelt saw a herd of cow elk at a great distance, and soon after
took a shot at one, but failed to reach his mark.

"I'm going after that herd," he said. And as soon as the party had
pitched camp, he sallied forth in one direction, while his foreman,
Merrifield, took another.

As Theodore Roosevelt had supposed, the elk had gone off in a bunch, and
for some distance it was easy to follow them. But further on the herd
had spread out, and he had to follow with more care, for fear of getting
on the wrong trail, for elk tracks ran in all directions over the
mountains. These tracks are there to-day, but the elk and the bears are
fast disappearing, for ruthless hunters have done their best to
exterminate the game.

After passing along for several miles, Theodore Roosevelt felt he must
be drawing close to the herd. Just then his rifle happened to tap on the
trunk of a tree, and instantly he heard the elk moving away in new
alarm. His hunting blood was now aroused, and he rushed forward with all
speed, but as silently as possible. By taking a short cut, the young
ranchman managed to come up beside the running elk. They were less than
twenty yards away, and had it not been for the many trees which were on
every side, he would have had an excellent shot at them. As it was he
brought low a fin