"Yes," said Hugh, "the Blackfeet and Kutenais all say that you can fire many shots at a goat; and others, not far off, within easy ear-shot of the firing, will pay no attention to the noise."
"Well," said Fannin, "we came up here to get goats, and those are what we must try for."
It was nearly noon when a light breeze began to blow, and the fog seemed to grow thinner; and a little later, without the least warning, the great bank of fog which had hung over the mountains rolled away, and the sun burst forth from a cloudless sky. They could now see that they were on the crest of a mountain ridge that separated the valley of the North Arm of Burrard Inlet and Salmon River from that of Seymour Creek to the west. The divide they were on was broken and uneven, made up of sharp ridges, deep ravines, and rounded, smooth and sometimes almost level stretches. Everywhere on the high divide, except on the tops of the rocky ridges, the ground was covered with heather, soft and yielding under foot, yet good to walk over. As they moved along the ridge, they could see at almost every step fresh signs of goats. None were in sight, but this meant nothing; for although the country was open and the eye could cover miles of territory, in any direction, yet the ground was so broken that goats might be anywhere close to them and still be out of sight.
After a little while Seammux left the party and started down the side of the ridge toward Seymour Creek; but he had hardly gone two hundred yards when he dropped to the ground, clambered up a short distance toward them, and made signs for them to come.
"There," said Fannin, "Seammux sees something; I hope it's in a place where we can get to it."
"I hope so," said Jack, "and that it's not too far down the hill. Anything that we kill down there of course has got to be carried up again."
"Well," said Hugh, "the easiest way to find out where it is, is to go down to the Indian; but go carefully; this plant under foot is mighty slippery, and you don't want to fall down and break your gun or knock off the sights."
They scrambled down to the Indian, who, as they approached, made signs for them to be cautious. When they had reached him, he pointed to the top of the bank below him, and they advanced to look over it, supposing that they might see goats, three or four hundred yards away, that would have to be carefully stalked. But instead of that, when they peered cautiously over it, there were four of the white beasts placidly feeding on the hillside, within thirty yards of them. The curious animals stood knee-deep in the heather, and seemed to be carefully picking out certain plants which grew here and there among it. Their horns were sharp, shining black, and directed a little backward; and on each chin was a beard, reminding one of that of a buffalo, and easily explaining the common name "goat" given to them. The animals seemed so unsuspicious that Fannin hardly felt like firing at them; but to Jack, who had never before killed a goat, no such thought occurred. He was anxious to secure his animal. There were four shots, for the young Indian, Sillicum, carried a musket, though Seammux had none; and it was but a moment before the four goats lay stretched on the mountain side.
"Well," said Jack, as they stood over the animals which the Indians were now preparing to skin, "that is about the simplest piece of hunting that I ever did. These goats don't seem to be much more suspicious than so many buffalo."
"No," said Hugh, "they are certainly gentle beasts, and that's just what I've always heard about them from the Indians."