I3 4 RANCH LIFE AND THE HUNTING-TRAIL 



the cool air the horse lopes smartly through the wooded bottoms. The 

 meadow-larks, with black crescents on their yellow breasts, sing all day 

 long, but the thrushes only in the morning and evening ; and their melody 

 is heard at its best on such a ride as this. By the time I get out of the 

 last ravines and canter along the divide, the dark bluff-tops in the east 

 have begun to redden in the sunrise, while in the flushed west the hills 

 stand out against a rosy sky. The sun has been up some little time 

 before the hunting-grounds are fairly reached ; for the antelope stands 

 alone in being a diurnal game animal that from this peculiarity, as well as 

 from the nature of its haunts, can be hunted as well at midday as at any 

 other hour. Arrived at the hunting-grounds I generally, but not always, 

 dismount and hunt on foot, leaving the horse tethered out to graze. 



Lunch is taken at some spring, which may be only a trickle of water 

 at the base of a butte, where a hole must be dug out with knife and hands 

 before the horse can drink. Once or twice I have enjoyed unusual deli- 

 cacies at such a lunch, in the shape of the eggs of curlew or prairie fowl 

 baked in the hot ashes. 



The day is spent in still-hunting, a much easier task among the ridges 

 and low hills than out on the gently rolling prairies. Antelope see much 

 better than deer, their great bulging eyes, placed at the roots of the horns, 

 being as strong as twin telescopes. Extreme care must be taken not to 

 let them catch a glimpse of the intruder, for it is then hopeless to attempt 

 approaching them. On the other hand, there is never the least difficulty 

 about seeing them ; for they are conspicuous beasts, and, unlike deer, they 

 never hide, being careless whether they are seen or not, so long as they 

 can keep a good lookout. They trust only to their own alert watchfulness 

 and quick senses for safety. The game is carried home behind the saddle ; 

 and the bottom on which the ranch house stands is not often reached until 

 the moon, showing crimson through the haze, has risen above the bluffs 

 that skirt the river. 



Antelope are very tough, and will carry off a great deal of lead unless 

 struck in exactly the right place ; and even when mortally hit they some- 

 times receive the blow without flinching, and gallop off as if unharmed. 

 They always should be followed up a little distance after being fired at, as 

 if unhurt. Sometimes they show the rather curious trait of walking back- 

 wards a number of steps just before falling in death. 



Although ordinarily harder to get at than deer, they are far more fre- 

 quently killed in what may be called accidental ways. At times they seem 

 to be heedless of danger, and they suffer from occasional panic fits of fear 

 or curiosity, when it is no feat at all to slay them. Hunters can thus 



