l8 HUNTING THE GRISLY. 



turned, my brother and cousin ran for their 

 rifles, but before they got back the buffaloes 

 had crossed the bluff crest. Climbing after 

 them, the two hunters found, when they 

 reached the summit, that their game, instead 

 of halting, had struck straight off across the 

 prairie at a slow lope, doubtless intending to 

 rejoin the herd they had left. After a mo- 

 ment's consultation the men went in pursuit, 

 excitement overcoming their knowledge that 

 they ought not, by rights, to leave camp. 

 They struck a steady trot, following the 

 animals by sight until they passed over a knoll, 

 and then trailing them. Where the grass was 

 long, as it was for the first four or five miles, 

 this was a work of no difficulty, and they did 

 not break their gait, only glancing now and 

 then at the trail. As the sun rose and the day 

 became warm, their breathing grew quicker ; 

 and the sweat rolled off their faces as they 

 ran across the rough prairie sward, up and 

 down the long inclines, now and then shifting 

 their heavy rifles from one shoulder to the 

 other. But they were in good training, and 

 they did not have to halt. At last they reached 

 stretches of bare ground, sun-baked and grass- 

 less, where the trail grew dim ; and here they 

 had to go very slowly, carefully examining the 

 faint dents and marks made in the soil by the 

 heavy hoofs, and unravelling the trail from the 

 mass of old footmarks. It was tedious work, 

 but it enabled them to completely recover their 

 breath by the time that they again struck the 

 grassland ; and but a few hundred yards from 



