286 Hunting Trips on the Prairie 



About midnight we were rudely awakened by 

 having our pillows whipped out from under our 

 heads; and as we started from the bed we saw, 

 in the bright moonlight, the horses galloping madly 

 off with the saddles, tied to the lariats whose other 

 ends were round their necks, bounding and trailing 

 after them. Our first thought was that they had 

 been stampeded by horse-thieves, and we rolled 

 over and crouched down in the grass with our rifles ; 

 but nothing could be seen, except a shadowy four- 

 footed form in the hollow, and in the end we found 

 that the horses must have taken alarm at a wolf 

 or wolves that had come up to the edge of the bank 

 and looked over at us, not being able at first to 

 make out what we were. 



We did not expect to find the horses again that 

 night, but nevertheless took up the broad trail made 

 by the saddles as they dragged through the dewy 

 grass, and followed it well in the moonlight. Our 

 task proved easier than we had feared; for they 

 had not run much over half a mile, and we found 

 them standing close together and looking intently 

 round when we came up. Leading them back we 

 again went to sleep; but the weather was rapidly 

 changing, and by three o'clock a fine rain began to 

 come steadily down, and we cowered and shivered 

 under our wet blankets till morning. At the first 

 streak of dawn, having again eaten a couple of bis- 

 cuits, we were off, glad to bid good-bye to the in- 

 hospitable pool, in whose neighborhood we had 

 spent such a comfortless night. A fine, drizzling 



