THE VULTURES 109 



horse almost frantic with their biting. To add to our dis- 

 comfort and the impediment of our progress, the ground 

 became soft and the horse's feet continually sank above 

 their fetlocks in the sticky, treacherous bog. 



The horse floundered heavily forward until at length 

 with a lunge he struck a spot too soft for his weight and 

 sank down into the mud to his body, his head buried in a 

 cluster of palmetto leaves with their saw-like stems cutting 

 his face and lips. Almost at the same moment I caught 

 sight of the object of my quest. Lying not ten feet away 

 was one of the half -wild cows of the country. She was 

 bogged sure and fast, and her weak movements showed 

 that her end was near,— starvation had about done its work. 

 The two vultures on the palmetto tree remained seated 

 and regarded my movements with some apparent interest. 

 The others were now ujDon the wing, circling round about 

 the pond. Standing on the firm palmetto roots, I endeav- 

 ored with brush and poles to assist my poor horse in re- 

 gaining his feet. For the next twenty minutes I worked 

 on busily, and the two vultures, the grim, loathsome senti- 

 nels, watched my every movement. 



Within a few feet was the open water of the pond. Per- 

 haps thirty yayds away was a floating tussock. A slight 

 sound and a movement caused me to turn toward this, and 

 there crawling up from the other side was a big twelve-foot 



