I have to-day secured my first specimen of the—I don’t know whether to call it _Cervus columbianus_ or _Cariacus columbianus_, or _Cariacus macrotis_; for no two authorities I have read agree on that point. If he is a deer at all, he belongs to the family _Cervidæ_, and therefore ought to be called _Cervus_ something. Who knows but I may some day be an authority on these little matters myself? He is a mule-deer; I know that much, and his dimensions are as follows: spread of antlers, fifty inches; fourteen well-developed prongs. Height, five feet four inches from the ground to tip of antlers; at the haunches, three feet eight inches. Length of ears, a fraction over eight inches. Body, round and plump; legs very slender; feet so small that they seem greatly disproportioned to the size of the animal. Color of coat a dark gray, tipped with black, changing to yellow and white on the breast and flanks, and to a tawny on the legs. Tail, thin and switchy; white at the top, and terminating in a black brush three inches in length. Weight, about two hundred and fifty pounds. After Oscar had made this entry, and while he was sitting with his elbow on his knee and his chin resting on his hand, looking down at the deer to see if there were any points about him that he had not noted, he heard footsteps breaking through the crust outside the cabin; and the next moment the door opened, admitting Big Thompson, who carried something slung over his shoulder. He stopped on the threshold and uttered an exclamation of astonishment. “What have you got there?” inquired Oscar. The guide handed over his bunch of game, consisting of an otter and several mink, for his employer’s inspection, and turned his attention to the deer, which he examined with considerable interest. “Ye’ll never get a better one, if ye stay here till yer har’s as white as the driven snow,” said he. “’Taint often ye see a black-tail larger’n this yere. An’ I think I heard ye say that ye didn’t know nothin’ ’bout huntin’ big game.” “And I told you the truth,” replied Oscar. “But I have paid strict attention to everything you said in regard to the habits of the animals found in these hills, and when I go hunting I make use of the information you have given me. I know enough to beat you, don’t I?” “Looks like it from here,” answered the guide. “And you had the start of me, too,” continued Oscar. “I followed your trail until I was tired out, and then, happening to recall what you said regarding the habit a mule-deer has of doubling on his trail, I looked toward the top of a bluff a little distance off and there he was. That’s the way I got him. What was the reason you didn’t answer my signals?” “Look a-here, perfessor,” said the guide, drawing the other stool up on the opposite side of the fire and seating himself, “what be ye tryin’ to get through yerself?”