ages of my journey all right, though
with considerably more difficulty in spots than I should have
anticipated. The knife edge was so sharp and the sides so treacherous
that at times it was almost impossible to travel anywhere but right on
top. This would not do. By a little planning, however, I managed to
reach the central "keep" of the Citadel: a high, bleak, broken pile,
flat on top, with snow in all the crevices, and small cliffs on all
sides. From this advantage I could cautiously spy out the lay of the
land.

Below me fifty feet dipped the second ridge, running nearly at right
angles. It sloped abruptly to the wolf basin, but fell sheer on the
other side to depths I could not at that time guess.[D] A very few
scattered, stunted, and twisted trees huddled close down to the rock and
snow. This saddle was about fifty feet in width and perhaps five hundred
yards in length. It ended in another craggy butte very much like the
Citadel.

My first glance determined that my original plan would not do. The goats
had climbed from where I had first seen them, and were now leisurely
topping the saddle. To attempt to descend would be to reveal myself. I
was forced to huddle just where I was. My hope was that the goats would
wander along the saddle toward me, and not climb the other butte
opposite. Also I wanted them to hurry, please, as the snow in which I
sat was cold, and the wind piercing.

This apparently they were not inclined to do. They paused, they nibbled
at some scanty moss, they gazed at the scenery, they scratched their
ears. I shifted my position cautiously--and saw below me,[E] lying on
the snow at the very edge of the cliff, a tremendous billy! He had been
there all the time; and I had been looking over him!

At the crack of the Springfield he lurched forward and toppled slowly
out of sight over the edge of the cliff. The two I had been stalking
instantly disappeared. But on the very top of the butte opposite
appeared another. It was a very long shot,[F] but I had to take chances,
for I could not tell whether or not the one I had just shot was
accessible or not. On a guess I held six inches over his back. The goat
gave one leap forward into space. For twenty feet he fell spread-eagled
and right side up as though flying. Then he began to turn and whirl. As
far as my personal testimony could go, he is falling yet through that
dizzy blue abyss.

"Good-bye, billy," said I, sadly. It looked then as though I had l