my time.
Ef them thur chaps who writes about all sorts o' varmint hed seed as
much o' the grizzly as I hev, they mout a gin a hul book consarnin' the
critter. Ef I hed a plug o' bacca for every grizzly I've rubbed out, it
'ud keep my jaws waggin' for a good twel'month, I reck'n. Ye-es,
strengers, I've done some bar-killin'--I hev that, an' no mistake!
Hain't I, Mark?

"Wal, I wur a-gwine to tell you ov a sarcumstance that happened to this
child about two yeern ago. It wur upon the Platte, atween Chimbly Rock
an' Laramies'.

"I wur engaged as hunter an' guide to a carryvan o' emigrant folks that
wur on thur way to Oregon.

"Ov coorse I allers kept ahead o' the carryvan, an' picked the place for
thur camp.

"Wal, one arternoon I hed halted whur I seed some timmer, which ur a
scace article about Chimbly Rock. This, thort I, 'll do for
campin'-ground; so I got down, pulled the saddle off o' my ole mar, an'
staked the critter upon the best patch o' grass that wur near, intendin'
she shed hev her gut-full afore the camp cattle kim up to bother her.

"I hed shot a black-tail buck, an' after kindlin' a fire, I roasted a
griskin' o' him, an' ate it.

"Still thur wan't no sign o' the carryvan, an' arter hangin' the buck
out o' reach o' the wolves, I tuk up my rifle, an' set out to
rackynoiter the neighbourhood.

"My mar bein' some'at jaded, I let her graze away, an' went afoot; an'
that, let me tell you, strengers, ar about the foolichest thing you kin
do upon a parairy. I wan't long afore I proved it; but I'll kum to that
by 'm by.

"Wal, I fust clomb a conside'able hill, that gin me a view beyont. Thur
war a good-sized parairy layin' torst the south an' west. Thur wur no
trees 'ceptin' an odd cotton-wood hyur an' thur on the hillside.

"About a mile off I seed a flock of goats--what you'd call antelopes,
though goats they ur, as sure as goats is goats.

"Thur waunt no kiver near them--not a stick, for the parairy wur as bar
as yur hand; so I seed, at a glimp, it 'ud be no use a tryin' to
approach, unless I tuk some plan to decoy the critters.

"I soon thort o' a dodge, an' went back to camp for my blanket, which
wur a red Mackinaw. This I knew 'ud be the very thing to fool the goats
with, an' I set out torst them.

"For the fust half-a-mile or so, I carried the blanket under my arm.
Then I spread it out, an' walked behind it until I wur 'ithin three or
four hundred yards o' the animals. I kept my eye o