122 EARLY DAY STORIES. 



about the middle of the shoulders. As the gun cracked the 

 antelope gave a bound and fell, then hobbled over the knoll 

 out of sight. Going to the place, it was found partly lying 

 down just beyond the knoll, and a shot through the head 

 finished it. The shot had broken both fore legs at the knee 

 joint. It was a chance shot, and I have been very sorry 

 that I did not step the distance. The longest successful shot 

 I ever made when the distance was determined, was two 

 hundred and thirty paces, at which distance I once killed 

 an elk in Wheeler county. I think the shot at this antelope 

 was somewhat longer, but am not sure. The weather at 

 this time was very warm with a bright sun. We cut off all 

 the thickest of the meat, rubbed it with salt, and spread it 

 out on an old tarpaulin on top of the load to dry. In the 

 evening, it was hung around the camp fire and thus dried 

 and smoked. It cured perfectly. The bones and thin meat 

 were boiled, and it lasted us until more game was killed 

 When on such a trip it is easy to cure meat in this way if 

 the weather is clear, by giving it sunshine in the day time, 

 and the heat and smoke of the camp fire at night. It can 

 even be done without salt, but it is much more palatable if 

 it is first rubbed with salt. 



On this trip the mosquitos were very bad. I have never 

 anywhere seen the mosquitos worse than they were in the 

 sand hills of Nebraska in early times, and that it putting it 

 pretty strong, but none too strong. They were bad enough 

 in the clay lands where the grass was big, but nothing like 

 the sand hill country. In the sand hills, excepting in a very 

 dry season there were hundreds of little ponds with more 

 or less water, and filled with a growth of coarse grass and 

 rushes, the breeding place of billions of mosquitos. That 

 country is much drier now than it was. There are thou- 

 sands on thousands of cattle and horses to feed down the 

 grass, and the mosquitos are not a quarter as thick there 

 now as they were formerly. The first night out we scarcely 



