"That's a pretty lucky shot," said Hugh; "you might hunt a good many
years and not do that over again. You've beaten me all hollow this
trip, and have killed three times as many deer as I have. I expect
you're what I call a lucky hunter, and if you only keep on trying
hard, and don't get to feeling too big about your good luck, you'll
do well right along."
"I'm surely going to try hard, Hugh. I don't think I have done
anything very bad since that first day when I tried to hunt antelope
alone. I think I learned a heap that day, and I have been glad a
good many times since that I didn't kill those first antelope."
"That's right," said Hugh; "I believe that was an awful good lesson
for you, and I hope you'll always remember it. I ain't a mite uneasy
but what you'll always do well in your hunting, for you're mighty
cool headed. I have hunted with a heap of men that couldn't stand it
to see game. Seems like whenever they saw an animal standing near
'em, they just got crazy right off. Why, I have seen men that would
tremble and shake like they had the ague, if they had a chance like
you had just now. Well," he went on, "I believe we might as well
butcher, and then start back and pack up our camp. We'll put one
deer on one of the pack horses and then bring the whole outfit over
here and pack the other three deer on the other horse. We've got all
the meat we want, and we can start now and get back to the ranch by
night. I did expect to be gone three or four days but we've had such
terrible fine luck that we've got all the meat we need, and it's no
use stopping. If we do we're likely to kill something more, and we
haven't got no way to pack it."
The work of butchering the deer did not take long; they dragged the
carcasses a little way up the hill, turned them over to drain, and
left them lying on the prairie. Twenty minutes' ride brought them
to the camp, where the pack horses were soon saddled. The beds and
the mess outfit were put on one of them, and here Hugh gave Jack his
first lesson in packing, showing him how the bundles were put on in
the swing ropes, and then how the diamond hitch was thrown. After
half a dozen trials, Jack thought he understood how the rope should
go, and which ones the packer on either side should pull.
"That's enough for one lesson," said Hugh; "now, before we fasten
this load on with the last rope, we'll throw one of them deer
carcasses on top, and put the lash rope over it." This was done, and
Jack for the first time helped to pack a horse, working on the off
side.
"You're pretty small," Hugh said, "to pack yet a while. A fellow's
got to be tall enough to reach up, so that he can put up a bundle on
top of the pack, and so that he can get a good pull on the ropes,
forward and backward. Your legs are a little mite short for that part
of the work yet. After this, when you and me go out, if you're going
to help pack, we'll have to pick short-legged pack ponies."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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