Finally I thought it would be enough for me to cut out the haunches,
and then I got down to one haunch. It had bothered me how I was going to
sever the joint, but to my great surprise I found there did not seem to be
any connection between the bones. The haunch came out easily, and I hung it
up on a branch while making a fire.
Herky-Jerky's method of broiling a piece of venison at the end of a stick
solved the problem of cooking. Then it was that the little flat flask, full
of mixed salt and pepper, rewarded me for the long carrying of it. I was
hungry, and I feasted.
By this time the sun shone warm, and the canyon was delightful. I roamed
around, sat on sunny stones, and lay in the shade of pines. Deer browsed in
the glades. When they winded or saw me they would stand erect, shoot up
their long cars, and then leisurely lope away. Coyotes trotted out of
thickets and watched me suspiciously. I could have shot several, but deemed
it wise to be saving of my ammunition. Once I heard a low drumming. I could
not imagine what made it. Then a big blue grouse strutted out of a patch of
bushes. He spread his wings and tail and neck feathers, after the fashion
of a turkey-gobbler. It was a flap or shake of his wings that produced the
drumming. I wondered if he intended, by his actions, to frighten me away
from his mate's nest.
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