ic6 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER 



got their ropes on the wagon, and hauling 

 from the saddle, -finally pulled it through. 

 This took time ; and it was ten o'clock when 

 I rode away from the river, at which my horse 

 and I had just drunk our last drink for over 

 twenty-four hours as it turned out. 



After two or three hours' ride, up winding 

 coulies, and through the scorched desolation 

 of patches of Bad Lands, I reached the roll- 

 ing prairie. The heat and drought had long 

 burned the short grass dull brown ; the 

 bottoms of what had been pools were covered 

 with hard, dry, cracked earth. The day was 

 cloudless, and the heat oppressive. There 

 were many antelope, but I got only one shot, 

 breaking a buck's leg ; and though I followed 

 it for a couple of hours I could not overtake 

 it. By this time it was late in the afternoon, 

 and I was far away from the river ; so I 

 pushed for a creek, in the bed of which I had 

 always found pools of water, especially to- 

 wards the head, as is usual with plains water- 

 courses. To my chagrin, however, they all 

 proved to be dry, and though I rode up the 

 creek bed toward the head, carefully search- 

 ing for any sign of water, night closed on me 

 before I found any. For two or three hours 

 I stumbled on, leading my horse, in my fruit- 

 less search ; then a tumble over a cut bank in 

 the dark warned me that I might as well stay 

 where I was for the rest of the warm night. 

 Accordingly I unsaddled the horse, and tied 

 him to a sage brush ; after awhile he began to 

 feed on the dewy grass. At first I was too 

 thirsty to sleep. Finally I fell into slumber, 

 and when I awoke at dawn I felt no thirst. 



