rabbits, so I felt very like Leather-stocking because I had killed but one when I might have gotten two.  It was fat and young, and it was but the work of a moment to dress it and hang it up on a tree.  Then I fried some slices of bacon, made myself a cup of coffee, and Jerrine and I sat on the ground and ate.  Everything smelled and tasted so good!  This air is so tonic that one gets delightfully hungry.  Afterward we watered and restaked “Jeems,” I rolled some logs on to the fire, and then we sat and enjoyed the prospect.

The moon was so new that its light was very dim, but the stars were bright.  Presently a long, quivering wail arose and was answered from a dozen hills.  It seemed just the sound one ought to hear in such a place.  When the howls ceased for a moment we could hear the subdued roar of the creek and the crooning of the wind in the pines.  So we rather enjoyed the coyote chorus and were not afraid, because they don’t attack people.  Presently we crept under our Navajos and, being tired, were soon asleep.

I was awakened by a pebble striking my cheek.  Something prowling on the bluff above us had dislodged it and it struck me.  By my Waterbury it was four o’clock, so I arose and spitted my rabbit.  The logs had left a big bed of coals, but some ends were still burning and had burned in such a manner that the heat would go both under and over my rabbit.  So I put plenty of bacon grease over him and hung him up to roast.  Then I went back to bed.  I didn’t want to start early because the air is too keen for comfort early in the morning.

The sun was just gilding the hilltops when we arose.  Everything, even the barrenness, was beautiful.  We have had frosts, and the quaking aspens were a trembling field of gold as far up the stream as we could see.  We were ’way up above them and could look far across the valley.  We could see the silvery gold of the willows, the russet and bronze of the currants, and patches of cheerful green showed where the pines were.  The splendor was relieved by a background of sober gray-green hills, but even on them gay streaks and patches of yellow showed where rabbit-brush grew.  We washed our faces at the spring,—­the grasses that grew around the edge and dipped into the water were loaded with ice,—­our rabbit was done to a turn, so I made some delicious coffee, Jerrine got herself a can of water, and we breakfasted.  Shortly afterwards we started again.  We didn’t know where we were going, but we were on our way.

That day was more toilsome than the last, but a very happy one.  The meadowlarks kept singing like they were glad to see us.  But we were still climbing and soon got beyond the larks and sage chickens and up into the timber, where there are lots of grouse.  We stopped to noon by a little lake, where I got two small squirrels and a string of trout.  We had some trout for dinner and salted the rest with the squirrels in an empty can for future use.  I was