The Bison or American Buffalo n 



of darkness; one night they came up so close 

 that the frightened horses had to be hobbled 

 and guarded. On another occasion a large 

 wolf actually crept into camp, where he was 

 seized by the dogs, and the yelling, writhing 

 knot of combatants rolled over one of the 

 sleepers; finally, the long-toothed prowler 

 managed to shake himself loose, and vanished 

 in the gloom. One evening they were almost 

 as much startled by a visit of a different kind. 

 They were just finishing supper when an In 

 dian stalked suddenly and silently out of the 

 surrounding darkness, squatted down in the 

 circle of firelight, remarked gravely, &quot;Me 

 Tonk,&quot; and began helping himself from the 

 stew. He belonged to the friendly tribe of 

 Tonkaways, so his hosts speedily recovered 

 their equanimity; as for him, he had never 

 lost his, and he sat eating by the fire until 

 there was literally nothing left to eat. The 

 panic caused by his appearance was natural; 

 for at that time the Comanches were a scourge 

 to the buffalo-hunters, ambushing them and 

 raiding their camps; and several bloody fights 

 had taken place. 



Their camp had been pitched near a deep 

 pool or water-hole. On both sides the bluffs 

 rose like walls, and where they had crumbled 



