IN THE OLD WEST 109 



scribed their countless bands as covering the 

 prairie far as the eye could reach, and requiring 

 days of travel to pass through ; but the visions 

 of such dainty and abundant feeding as they des- 

 canted on set his mouth watering, and danced 

 before his eyes as he slept supperless, night after 

 night, on the banks of the hungry Platte. 



One morning he had packed his animals before 

 the rest, and was riding a mile in advance of the 

 party, when he s&w on one side the trail, looming 

 in the refracted glare which mirages the plains, 

 three large dark objects without shape or form, 

 which rose and fell in the exaggerated light like 

 ships at sea. Doubting what it could be, he ap- 

 proached the strange objects; and as the refrac- 

 tion disappeared before him, the dark masses as- 

 sumed a more distinct form, and clearly moved 

 with life. A little nearer, and he made them out : 

 they were buffalo. Thinking to distinguish him- 

 self, the greenhorn dismounted from his mule and 

 quickly hobbled her, throwing his lasso on the 

 ground to trail behind when he wished to catch 

 her. Then, rifle in hand, he approached the huge 

 animals, and, being a good hunter, knew well to 

 take advantage of the inequalities of the ground 

 and face the wind ; by which means he crawled at 

 length to within forty yards of the buffalo, which 

 quietly cropped the grass, unconscious of danger. 

 Now, for the first time, he gazed upon the noble 

 beast he had so often heard of and longed to see. 



