BUFFALO WOLVES. 23 



bagpipes run mad, and the plaintive whip-poor-wills had 

 joined in and done " their level best " to make night 

 hideous. But these had only been the orchestra ; the 

 " chief musicianers " had at length arrived, and when the 

 overture had been played, and the moon shone forth, the 

 grand chorus broke on our startled ears. 



The light cavalry, who hang in squadrons round the main 

 army of the buffaloes, cutting off stragglers, devouring the 

 defenceless and the weak, making a prey of the unwary, 

 the gray-coated uhlans of the Plains the buffalo-wolves 

 were upon us. Wolf answered to wolf, pack answered to 

 pack. Pandemonium had been a quiet tea-party to it. 

 Fortunately the din was soon over, and the remainder of 

 the night was much quieter than any we had experienced 

 since we started out. The cunning fox and sly coyote 

 knew well their masters had arrived, and kept most discreet 

 silence. The midnight cat was scared. The nightingale of 

 the plains tooted only at long intervals, and the whip-poor- 

 will's low cry hardly disturbed the ear. 



Morning brought excitement and bustle. Our intended 

 quarry were still far away, but permanent camp and all 

 necessary preparations for action had to be made. The 

 first thing to do was to choose a site, and of course the 

 idea of taking a good defensive position presented itself. 

 It was an absurd idea. What could five men avail against 

 a band of Indians ? Still, one of us was a soldier by pro- 

 fession. We were in an enemy's country, a strategic position 

 was de rigueur. 



We found an excellent place for our purpose. A more 

 than usually sharp curve of the river washed close round a 



