56 The Wilderness Hunter. 



when the days are longest on these great northern plains; 

 and in addition there is the regular night guarding and 

 now and then a furious storm or a stampede, when for 

 twenty-four hours at a stretch the riders only dismount to 

 change horses or snatch a mouthful of food. 



I started in the bright sunrise, riding one horse and 

 driving loose before me eight others, one carrying my 

 bedding. They travelled strung out in single file. I kept 

 them trotting and loping, for loose horses are easiest to 

 handle when driven at some speed, and moreover the way 

 was long. My rifle was slung under my thigh ; the lariat 

 was looped on the saddle-horn. 



At first our trail led through winding coulies, and 

 sharp grassy defiles ; the air was wonderfully clear, the 

 flowers were in bloom, the breath of the wind in my face 

 was odorous and sweet. The patter and beat of the un- 

 shod hoofs, rising in half-rhythniic measure, frightened 

 the scudding deer ; but the yellow-breasted meadow larks, 

 perched on the budding tops of the bushes, sang their 

 rich full songs without heeding us as we went by. 



When the sun was well on high and the heat of the 

 day had begun we came to a dreary and barren plain, 

 broken by rows of low clay buttes. The ground in places 

 was whitened by alkali ; elsewhere it was dull gray. Here 

 there grew nothing save sparse tufts of coarse grass, and 

 cactus, and sprawling sage brush. In the hot air all 

 things seen afar danced and wavered. As 1 rode and 

 gazed at the shimmering haze the vast desolation of the 

 landscape bore on me ; it seemed as if the unseen and 

 unknown powers of the wastes were moving by and 



