66 BUFFALO LAND. 



grass nodded and rustled in the light wind, but 

 not a blade moved to indicate the presence of any 

 living thing beneath it, while the dogs remained as 

 if petrified. 



The Professor said it was very remarkable, and 

 wondered what had better be done next. Mr. Colon 

 thought that the dogs were tired, and we might as 

 well get into the wagon. Another suggested at ran- 

 dom that we should set the dogs on, and Muggs, 

 who had probably heard the expression somewhere, 

 cried, " Hi, boys, on bloods ! " At the words the 

 dogs made a few quick steps forward, and on the 

 instant the grass Seemed alive with feathered forms, 

 popping into air like bobs in shuttlecock. Such a 

 fluttering and flying I have never seen since, when 

 a boy, I ventured into a dove cote, and was knocked 

 over by the rush of the alarmed inmates. From un- 

 der our very feet, almost brushing our faces, the 

 beautiful pinnated grouse of the prairies left their 

 cover, and us also. 



Every gun had gone off on the instant, and we 

 doubt if one was raised an inch higher than it hap- 

 pened to be when the covey started. The Professor 

 afterward extracted some stray shot from the legs of 

 his boots, and the setter, which was next to Muggs, gave 

 a cry of pain for which there was evidently other 

 cause than rheumatism, as was demonstrated by his 

 retirement to the rear, from which he refused to 

 budge until we all got into the wagon, and to which 

 he invariably retreated whenever we got out. 



From the midst of the birds which were soaring 

 away, one was seen to rise suddenly a few feet above 



