IN TROUBLE AGAIN 51

allowing two hours for lost time and another hour off
because the return trip would be mostly down hill, we
should require four hours to get back. When we had
taken the photographs, cut off the heads, packed up some
of the meat and were ready to return we were in exactly
the same fix we were the day before. It was useless to
consider returning the way we had come; we would not
even think of climbing the wall again. Was there no other
way ? It seemed such a short distance to the top, and
once there the rest was so simple. Perhaps, after all,
we might manage it; we had done it the day before, we
knew the best route. Why not tackle it again? Once
more we were wet and miserable, thoughts of our camp
and a blazing fire sorely tempted us, but those heads and
meat had to be taken into consideration—we would have
at least sixty pounds each on our backs, and a head is a
nasty thing to carry, even on good ground. The idea did
not appeal to either of us. Even then we might have
succumbed to the temptation, but the remembrance of the
way my load slipped the day before, and those few feet of
narrow ledge that had to be passed, finally vetoed that
route. There was only one other alternative, and that
was to take the way we had come when we made the stalk.
It meant a terrific climb, but if we hurried we could
accomplish it before dark. So off we went. By this time
it had begun to rain again and the highest peaks were
shrouded in mist.

Before we got half way to where we intended to begin
the ascent we noticed a chimney in the wall which we
could go up without much trouble for quite a distance ;
moreover, we figured that from the point where it ended
we could pass along a ledge to the left and come out a
short distance above where we had come out the day
before. It looked so promising that we felt quite chirpy
as we began to clamber up it.

By using ordinary caution there was no danger in that
climb, but it was steep enough for us to have to use our
hands, and the weight of the heads and meat soon began
_to feel like a ton; in addition, the rough horns chafed our
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