“I know them,” said Rob. “They’re the greatest climbers in the world—‘On top’ is their motto always.”
“That’s why the head of a white goat is always considered a good trophy among sportsmen; it means that the hunter has had to climb high for it. They’re a sporting proposition, all right, those goats; but when it comes to eating, that’s something different. I boiled goat meat two days straight once, and it was still like shoe leather.” Uncle Dick shook his head.
“Oh, you’ll got old goat—old Guillaume goat,” said Moise. “He’s too tough for eat. But s’pose you’ll got some small leetle goat; she’s good for eat like anything.”
“So I’ve heard,” said Uncle Dick, “but I’m willing to take my chances with flour and bacon.”
“Well, now,” said Rob, “if there are goats in here I’d like awfully well to try to photograph one, at least. They tell me they’re so dull and stupid you can go right up on them.”
“I’m not so sure about their being stupid,” replied Uncle Dick. “I think it’s more likely that they just are not afraid of anything. A big billy will kill any dog in the world, and some hunters declare that they will even fight a grizzly bear. Their little black horns are sharp as needles, and they can hit a hard blow with that neck of theirs, backed by a couple of hundred pounds of bone and muscle.
“Whatever a goat may be as to wisdom, he won’t run away, and you can never hurry him. A bighorn will run for miles if he smells or sees you, but if a goat sees you he’ll take his own time, stop and look at you, and then go off as slowly as he likes. If you get too close to him, he may stop and stamp his feet, and work his lips at you, and show he’s angry. But he’ll never show he is scared. That’s why they are so easy to kill, once you climb up where they are. That ought to make them easy to photograph, too, Rob. I should say there were ten chances to get a goat photograph to one of the bighorn.”
“Do you suppose there are any around here?” inquired Jesse.
“Plenty of them on old Yellowhead Mountain, right here above us.”
“Well, why not have a hunt, then?”