“I hope he has gone off to scare up a breakfast,” he mused, as he sat down by the spring, “for I’m hungry enough to eat a raw Blackfoot-- Helloa!” He heard the crackling of undergrowth, and there, scarcely twenty feet distant, he saw one of the finest and plumpest of antelopes, coming toward the spring, evidently for the purpose of obtaining his “morning bitters.” “Oh dear,” gasped the boy, as he fixed his eyes upon him, “if I only had my gun! I wonder if I can’t get near enough to knife him?” The instant he moved, the delicate, graceful animal halted, threw back its head, and fixing it steadily upon him for a single second, wheeled about and made an affrighted plunge backward. “There goes my breakfast,” growled the lad, “and I never had a meal travel so fast in all my life. Ha! what’s up now? He must have hit his toe against something!” This exclamation was caused by the sudden tumbling of the animal, who, rolling all over in a heap, struggled up again, then fell, and then lay still. The crack of a rifle, that now reached the ears of the boy, explained all; the animal had scarcely ceased his struggles, when Little Rifle emerged from the bushes. “Bully for you!” shouted Harry, dashing forward the instant he saw him. “Don’t throw away his hoofs and horns, for I’m hungry enough to eat them too.” “While I’m getting some slices ready, do you kindle a fire, Harry, and I’ll soon give you one of the best meals of your life.” “Don’t be too long about it,” said the boy, as he flew about to obey the request. “I think I can hold out about half an hour longer, and then I’ll be ready to begin on you.” It required but a few minutes to gather a quantity of wood; but the hungry lad was in such impatient haste that he lost a great deal of time in starting a fire after it was ready. He succeeded at last, by which time Little Rifle had two large, tender slices, from the choicest part of the animal, dressed and ready for the coals. Only a few minutes were required to prepare both, and then the lads made a meal, whose luscious richness can be understood only by those that have been placed in similar circumstances. As they crunched through the tender, juicy steaks, they could only roll their eyes at each other, without attempting to give expression to their enjoyment. Occasionally Harry indulged in a groan or sigh of happiness--but that was all. Little Rifle had gauged the capacities of both, with no inconsiderable skill, and when his friend had made away with the last morsel, despite his loud predictions at the beginning of the meal, he was obliged to confess himself fully satisfied. “I thought I could hold more than that,” he said, looking wistfully at the remains of the animal, “but, alas! for human ambition. Another mouthful and I would explode.”