Hunting the Prong-Buck. 87 



the body of the steer lay lengthwise across the line. The 

 weight and the blood smothered the fire as we twitched 

 the carcass over the burning grass ; and the two men fol- 

 lowing behind with their blankets and slickers readily 

 beat out any isolated tufts of flame. 



The fire made the horses wild, and it was not always 

 easy to manage both them and the ropes, so as to keep 

 the carcass true on the line. Sometimes there would be 

 a slight puff of wind, and then the man on the grass side 

 of the line ran the risk of a scorching. We were blackened 

 with smoke, and the taut ropes hurt our thighs ; while at 

 times the plunging horses tried to buck or bolt. It was 

 worse when we came to some deep gully or ravine, break- 

 ing the line of fire. Into this we of course had to plunge, 

 so as to get across to the fire on the other side. After 

 the glare of the flame the blackness of the ravine was 

 Stygian ; we could see nothing, and simply spurred our 

 horses into it anywhere, taking our chances. Down we 

 would go, stumbling, sliding, and pitching, over cut banks 

 and into holes and bushes, while the carcass bounded 

 behind, now catching on a stump, and now fetching loose 

 with a " pluck " that brought it full on the horses' 

 haunches, driving them nearly crazy with fright. The pull 

 up the opposite bank was, if anything, worse. 



By midnight the half carcass was worn through ; but 

 we had stifled the fire in the comparatively level country 

 to the eastwards. Back we went to camp, drank huge 

 draughts of muddy water, devoured roast ox-ribs, and 

 dragged out the other half carcass to fight the fire on the 

 west. But after hours of wearing labor we found our- 



