The Lordly Buffalo 289 



object as he stood up, trembling and shaking, and 

 plastered with mire from head to tail. 



So far the trip had certainly not been a success, 

 although sufficiently varied as regards its incidents ; 

 we had been confined to moist biscuits for three 

 days as our food; had been wet and cold at night, 

 and sunburned till our faces peeled in the day ; were 

 hungry and tired, and had met with bad weather, 

 and all kinds of accidents; in addition to which I 

 had shot badly. But a man who is fond of sport, 

 and yet is not naturally a good hunter, soon learns 

 that if he wishes any success at all he must both 

 keep in memory and put in practice Anthony Trol- 

 lope's famous precept: "It's dogged as does it." 

 And if he keeps doggedly on in his course the odds 

 are heavy that in the end the longest lane will prove 

 to have a turning. Such was the case on this occa- 

 sion. 



Shortly after mid-day we left the creek bottom, 

 and skirted a ridge of broken buttes, cut up by 

 gullies and winding ravines, in whose bottoms grew 

 bunch grass. While passing near the mouth, and 

 to leeward of one of these ravines, both ponies 

 threw up their heads, and snuffed the air, turning 

 their muzzles toward the head of the gully. Feel- 

 ing sure that they had smelt some wild beast, either 

 a bear or a buffalo, I slipped off my pony, and ran 

 quickly but cautiously up along the valley. Before 

 I had gone a hundred yards, I noticed in the soft soil 

 at the bottom the round prints of a bison's hoofs; 

 and immediately afterward got a glimpse of the 



M VOL. IV. 



