In Buffalo Days 



In the early days, when the game was 

 plenty, buffalo-running was exhilarating 

 sport. Given a good horse, the only other 

 requisite to success was the ability to remain 

 on his back till the end of the chase. No 

 greater degree of skill was needed than this, 

 and yet the quick motion of the horse, the 

 rough ground to be traversed, and the feeling 

 that there was something ahead that must be 

 overtaken and stopped, made the ride attrac- 

 tive. There was the very slightest spice of 

 danger; for while no one anticipated a serious 

 accident, it was always possible that one's 

 horse might step into a badger-hole, in which 

 case his rider would get a fall that would 

 make his bones ache. 



The most exciting, and by far the most 

 interesting, hunts in which I ever took part 

 were those -with the Indians of the plains. 

 They were conducted almost noiselessly, and 

 no ring of rifle-shot broke the stillness of the 

 air, nor puff of smoke rose toward the still, 

 gray autumn sky. The consummate grace 

 and skill of the naked Indians, and the speed 

 and quickness of their splendid ponies, were 



well displayed in such chases as these. More 



199 



