In Buffalo Days 
In the early days, when the game was 
plenty, buffalo-running was exhilarating 
sport. Given a good horse, the only other 
requisite to success was the ability to remain 
on his back till the end of the chase. No 
greater degree of skill was needed than this, 
and yet the quick motion of the horse, the 
rough ground to be traversed, and the feeling 
that there was something ahead that must be 
overtaken and stopped, made the ride attrac- 
tive. There was the very slightest spice of 
danger; for while no one anticipated a serious 
accident, it was always possible that one’s 
horse might step into a badger-hole, in which 
case his rider would get a fall that would 
make his bones ache. 
The most exciting, and by far the most 
interesting, hunts in which I ever took part 
were those with the Indians of the plains. 
They were conducted almost noiselessly, and 
no ring of rifle-shot broke the stillness of the 
air, nor puff of smoke rose toward the still, 
gray autumn sky. The consummate grace 
and skill of the naked Indians, and the speed 
and quickness of their splendid ponies, were 
well displayed in such chases as these. More 
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