78 THE STORY OP THE TRAPPER 



parted from the cavalcade and all impedimenta re 

 mained behind. The best-equipped man was the man 

 with the best horse, a horse that picked out the largest 

 buffalo from one touch of the rider s hand or foot, that 

 galloped swift as wind in pursuit, that jerked to a stop 

 directly opposite the brute s shoulders and leaped from 

 the sideward sweep of the charging horns. No sound 

 came from the hunters till all were within close range. 

 Then the captain gave the signal, dropped a flag, waved 

 his hand, or fired a shot, and the hunters charged. 



Arrows whistled through the air, shots clattered 

 with the fusillade of artillery volleys. Bullets fell to 

 earth with the dull ping of an aim glanced aside by the 

 adamant head bones or the heaving shoulder fur of the 

 buffalo. The Indians shouted their war-cry of &quot; Ah 

 oh, ah oh ! &quot; Here and there French voices screamed 

 &quot; Voila ! Les bceuf s ! Les bceufs ! Sacre ! Tonnerre ! 

 Tir tir tir done ! By Gar ! &quot; And Missouri tra 

 ders called out plain and less picturesque but more 

 forcible English. 



Sometimes the suddenness of the attack dazed the 

 herd; but the second volley with the smell of powder 

 and smoke and men started the stampede. Then fol 

 lowed such a wild rush as is unknown in the annals 

 of any other kind of hunting, up hills, down embank 

 ments, over cliffs, through sloughs, across rivers, hard 

 and fast and far as horses had strength to carry riders 

 in a boundless land ! 



Eiders were unseated and went down in the melee; 

 horses caught on the horns of charging bulls and ripped 

 from shoulder to flank; men thrown high in mid-air to 

 alight on the back of a buffalo ; Indians with dexterous 

 aim bringing down the great brutes with one arrow; un- 



