han the antelopes, they were
not going to let it lure them into danger. Our hunters, therefore, were
at length constrained to leave the spot, and continue their search for a
path that might lead upward.

They were now more anxious than ever to reach the summit of the butte.
There was a flock of wild sheep upon it, and from these they hoped to
replenish their larder. As they proceeded, every crevice or ravine that
seemed to lead up the cliff was carefully examined; but upon all its
southern front no practicable path could be discovered.

"There must be _some_ way up," said Francois, "else how could the sheep
have got there?"

"Maybe," suggested Basil, "they were bred up there, and have never been
down to the plain."

"No," said Lucien, "that is not likely, brother. There can be no water,
I think, upon the table above; and these animals require drink as well
as others. They must descend occasionally to the spring for it."

"Then there is a path," said Francois.

"No doubt, for _them_ there is," replied Lucien; "but for all that, we
may not be able to follow it. These animals, although hoofed as sheep
are, can scale a cliff like cats, or spring down one like squirrels. It
is in that way they are enabled to escape from wolves, panthers, and
other beasts who would prey upon them."

"I have heard," said Basil, "that they can fling themselves down for a
hundred feet or more upon their horns, without receiving the slightest
injury. Is that true, Luce?"

"Both the Indians and trappers affirm it, and intelligent travellers
have believed them. Whether it be true or not is a question among
naturalists, that remains to be cleared up. It is certain that they can
leap downward for a very great distance--that they can alight on the
narrowest shelves of a precipice without a hoof slipping--that they can
spring across fearful chasms, and run swiftly along ledges where a dog
or a wolf would not dare to venture. Indeed, they seem to delight in
such situations--as if it gave them a pleasure to court danger, just as
a school-boy likes to luxuriate in perilous feats of agility."

"Are these the same that are called `big-horns' by the hunters?"
demanded Francois.

"The same," answered Lucien; "`cimmaron' is the name given by the
Spaniards--the earliest explorers of these regions. Naturalists have
named them `argali,' from their resemblance to the argali (_Ovis
ammon_), or wild sheep of Europe. They are not the same spec