"Why, you have missed the mountain!"
"Oh, non! dat am eempossoble."
It was true, nevertheless, for his ball had been arrested in its
flight by the stem of a tree not twenty yards before him.
While the shot was yet ringing, and before the laugh above referred to
had pealed forth, Dick Varley fired, and the animal, springing wildly
into the air, fell down the precipice, and was almost dashed to
pieces at their feet. This Rocky Mountain or big-horned sheep was a
particularly large and fine one, but being a patriarch of the flock
was not well suited for food. It was considerably larger in size than
the domestic sheep, and might be described as somewhat resembling a
deer in the body and a ram in the head. Its horns were the chief point
of interest to Dick; and, truly, they were astounding! Their enormous
size was out of all proportion to the animal's body, and they curved
backwards and downwards, and then curled up again in a sharp point.
These creatures frequent the inaccessible heights of the Rocky
Mountains, and are difficult to approach.
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