THE WOLF HUNTERS 



broken arrow, or somethin' dropped or thrown 

 away on the trail, before we travel very far, 

 that'll tell what tribe travelled it last," remarked 

 the scout. 



"I noticed that you don't carry any picket- 

 pin," I remarked; "how do you picket your horse 

 out?" 



"I picket him to a hole in the ground. I dig a 

 hole with my knife about a foot deep; tie a big 

 knot in the end of my lariat; put it down in the 

 bottom of the hole; fill in the dirt an' tamp it 

 down hard as I can with my foot; an' that'll hold 

 him 'bout as good as a picket-pin, an' saves the 

 trouble, an' saves my horse the weight of the iron 

 pin; an' I always try to lighten my horse's load 

 of every ounce I can do away with. An' when 

 I'm out by myself, or where there's nobody to 

 stan' guard at night, I make my bed with my head 

 on my saddle, 'bout half-way 'tween my horse 

 an' the end of my lariat that's buried, an' if any- 

 thing strange comes in sight the horse'll begin 

 running 'round at the end of his rope, an* dragging 

 it over me'll wake me up." 



"Well, your way of doing these things is just 

 about the same as we were trained to do in the 

 cavalry," I remarked. 



"Why, of course," replied Bill, "for nearly all 

 I know about scouting is what I learnt from the 

 ol' cavalrymen an' ol' army officers. You take 

 one of them ol' soldiers or officers that's been out 



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