nting antelope (I got one
the other day; another good head for our famous hall). I am
really attached to my two "factors," Ferris and Merrifield,
they are very fine men.

The country is growing on me, more and more; it has a
curious, fantastic beauty of its own; and as I own six or
eight horses I have a fresh one every day and ride on a lope
all day long. How sound I do sleep at night now! There is
not much game, however; the cattlemen have crowded it out
and only a few antelope and deer remain. I have shot a few
jackrabbits and curlews, with the rifle; and I also killed
eight rattlesnakes.

To-morrow my two men go East for the cattle; and I will
start out alone to try my hand at finding my way over the
prairie by myself. I intend to take a two months' trip in
the fall, for hunting; and may, as politics look now, stay
away over Election day; so I shall return now very soon,
probably leaving here in a week.

On the following day Ferris and Merrifield started for the East, and
Roosevelt set out on his solitary hunting trip, half to test out his
own qualities as a frontiersman and half to replenish the larder.

For the last week I have been fulfilling a boyish ambition
of mine [he wrote to "Bamie" after his return to the
Maltese Cross]; that is, I have been playing at frontier
hunter in good earnest, having been off entirely alone, with
my horse and rifle, on the prairie. I wanted to see if I
could not do perfectly well without a guide, and I succeeded
beyond my expectations. I shot a couple of antelope and a
deer--and missed a great many more. I felt as absolutely
free as a man could feel; as you know, I do not mind
loneliness; and I enjoyed the trip to the utmost. The only
disagreeable incident was one day when it rained. Otherwise
the weather was lovely, and every night I would lie wrapped
up in my blanket looking at the stars till I fell asleep, in
the cool air. The country has widely different aspects in
different places; one day I could canter hour after hour
over the level green grass, or through miles of wild-rose
thickets, all in bloom; on the next I would be amidst the
savage desolation of the Bad Lands, with their dreary
plateaus, fantastically shaped buttes, and deep, winding
canyons. I enjoyed the trip greatly, and have n