occasion I would have been
curious enough to give it closer inspection. Once, as I turned my head
in that direction, I thought I heard a wild laugh and later concluded
that it was only imagination on my part, but now, as I again faced the
cliff, I unmistakably heard a shout and was considerably relieved to see
silhouetted against the sky the figure of Big Pete.

"Hello, Le-loo," he shouted. "Through chasin' that 'ere spook Indian kid
be you? It's about time. Gosh-all-hemlocks! I been breakin' my neck
tryin' to keep up with you, doggone yore hide," shouted the big guide as
he started to climb down toward me.

"Hello, Pete! You bet I'm through and I'm blamed near all in. Where are
we, do you know?" I called to him.

"Top o' the world, my boy. Top o' the world, that's whar we be," he said
with a grin.

I had seen no game since I had lost the bighorn, and the sunball was now
hung low in the heavens. It appeared to me that there was every prospect
for a supperless night, too. But Big Pete evidently had no such idea,
and he "'lowed" that he would "mosey" 'round a bit and kill some
varmints for grub.

There seemed to be plenty of mountain lion signs, and I was surprised
that they should frequent such high altitudes, but Pete told me that
they were up here after marmots, and were all sleek and fat on that
diet. I would not have been surprised if my wild comrade had proposed a
feast on these cats. But it was not long before Pete's revolvers could
be heard barking and in a short time he returned with two braces of
white ptarmigan, each with its head shattered by a pistol ball, and I
confess these birds were more to my liking than cat meat. Up there 'mid
the snow fields the ptarmigan apparently kept their winter plumage all
year round, and their natural camouflage made them utterly invisible to
me, but to Pete, a white ptarmigan on a white snowfield seemed to be as
easy to detect as if the same bird had been perched on a heap of coal. I
had not seen one of these grouse since we had been in the mountains and
was not aware of their presence until my companion returned with the
four dead birds.

Without wasting time, Pete began to prepare them for cooking. He soon
built a fire of some sticks which he gleaned from one or two twisted and
gnarled evergreens that had wandered above timber line and cooked the
birds over the embers. He gave a brace to me, and sitting on a boulder
with our feet hanging over the edge we ate our eveni