MY OPINION OF CREASING. 307 



one of our creased horses. After creeping, with al- 

 most infinite caution, within seventy-five yards, we 

 succeeded in placing our bullets exactly where we 

 intended, thereby knocking down two victims, who 

 at once became insensible and no wonder, for their 

 bones were as effectually fractured as if they had 

 been struck with a sledge-hammer. Muggs' faith in 

 the theory of creasing, however, was unbounded. Up 

 he ran and buckled on the saddle, and got one foot 

 in the stirrup, ready to swing himself into the seat, 

 when the animal rose. 



After waiting about ten minutes, our Briton con- 

 cluded that a dead horse was poor riding, and left 

 us with a very emphatic statement that, in his 

 opinion, capturing a mount with a rifle was " another 

 blarsted Hamerican lie, you know ! " 



I afterward conversed with several plainsmen 

 about the merits of "creasing," and found that their 

 attempts had invariably ended in the same way as 

 ours had done. The feat may have been possible 

 with smooth-bore rifles, in the hands of those remark- 

 able hunters of old, who were able to shoot away the 

 breath of a pigeon, and hit the eye of a flying hawk ; 

 but with breech-loaders I unhesitatingly pronounce 

 creasing an utter impossibility. The achievement 

 sounds well in theory, but, like much else of popular 

 Western lore is somewhat impracticable when fairly 

 tested. I have an idea that the principal market 

 value of "creased" horses in the future, as in the 

 past, will be derived from furnishing creatures of ro- 

 mance with fearful rides. For this purpose, a cracked 

 skeleton would be as apt as a sound one, to carry the 



