The clean life and the strong constitution of the young trapper now came to his assistance. In spite of the fact that the wound was painful the precautions which his friends had taken had prevented the development of serious trouble and not many days had elapsed before Kit Carson declared that he was as well as ever. Indeed, only a few weeks had passed before Kit Carson’s activities in visiting his traps were as great as they had been before his unfortunate adventure with the Indians. It was upon one of his daily rounds, in which Reuben accompanied him, that the lad gained a fresh insight into the character of the man of whom now he was intensely fond. Meat was needed in the camp, and Kit Carson, whose skill as a hunter was acknowledged by all, promised to provide fresh game. His traps already had been visited and much of the day’s work had been done when he turned to Reuben and said: “Lad, would you like to go with me?” “Where are you going?” inquired Reuben. “I want to get some game.” “Yes, I’ll have my rifle in a minute.” Hastening into the tent he occupied, Reuben soon returned with his rifle, powder-horn, and bullet-pouch. Together the two men started on their hunt among the mountains. They had not gone far before they discovered that they would be able to obtain as many rabbits as they might desire. “I want bigger game than that,” said Kit Carson dryly. “If you want to turn back you may go, Reuben, but I’m going on a little farther. I have seen some signs that make me think there are some elk not far away.” “Have you seen their tracks?” “Yes, there are some now,” replied the scout, pointing, as he spoke, to some spots in the ground before him. Reuben was unable to discover any resemblance to the track of an elk, even after he had carefully inspected the places indicated, but his confidence in his companion was supreme and he quickly said, “I’ll go on with you.” He was rejoiced when not long after the advance was resumed they saw near a clump of trees in the distance a small herd of the animals they were seeking. “The thing for us to do,” whispered Kit Carson, “is to try to get closer to those trees. If we once get under cover there I think we can bag two or three.” Cautiously and slowly the two eager hunters worked their way toward the trees in the distance. Both were aware how keenly alert the elk were and how difficult it would be for the hunters to obtain the shelter they were seeking. Frequently the animals lifted their heads and gazed in their direction. Less than a half-hour had elapsed before Kit Carson said abruptly in a low voice: “They have seen us! The only thing to do now is to try to bring down one of them. Be quick, Reuben!” Both men knelt and aimed at the animals, which already had turned to flee from the place where they were feeding. Together the reports of the two guns rang out and a moment later one of the running elk fell to the ground. “I missed him,” said Reuben dolefully.