244 The Wilderness Hunter. 



circle, my brother managed to creep up against the wind 

 behind a slight roll in the prairie surface, until he was 

 within seventy-five yards of the grazing and unconscious 

 beasts. There were some cows and calves between him 

 and the bull, and he had to wait some moments before 

 they shifted position, as the herd grazed onward and gave 

 him a fair shot ; in the interval they had moved so far 

 forward that he was in plain view. His first bullet struck 

 just behind the shoulder; the herd started and looked 

 around, but the bull merely lifted his head and took a 

 step forward, his tail curled up over his back. The next 

 bullet likewise struck fair, nearly in the same place, telling 

 with a loud " pack ! " against the thick hide, and making 

 the dust fly up from the matted hair. Instantly the great 

 bull wheeled and charged in headlong anger, while the 

 herd fled in the opposite direction. On the bare prairie, 

 with no spot of refuge, it was useless to try to escape, 

 and the hunter, with reloaded rifle, waited until the bull 

 was not far off, then drew up his weapon and fired. Either 

 he was nervous, or the bull at the moment bounded over 

 some obstacle, for the ball went a little wild ; neverthe- 

 less, by good luck, it broke a fore-leg, and the great beast 

 came crashing to the earth, and was slain before it could 

 struggle to its feet. 



Two days after this event, a war party of Comanches 

 swept down along the river. They " jumped " a neigh- 

 boring camp, killing one man and wounding two more, 

 and at the same time ran off all but three of the horses 

 belonging to our eight adventurers. With the remaining 

 three horses and one wagon they set out homeward. The 



