TEE PRAIRIE WOLF. 187 



difficulty, even with a rifle, but to shoot it with a revolver 

 is a matter of great difficulty, unless by accident; hence I 

 must confess that I nearly emptied mine on the fugitive, 

 and that it was only when I was close along -side that I 

 tumbled it over with the last shot. A large pocket-knife 

 ended its fate, and, slinging it over my saddle, I rode back 

 to rejoin my comrades. None were in sight in any direc- 

 tion, however; and as I did not know the way home very 

 well, I began to move in the direction where I supposed it 

 was. After riding two or three miles, I met the entire par- 

 ty making preparations to go in search of me ; but, seeing 

 me in the flesh, they concluded to have another run if possi- 

 ble, for coyotes were more abundant than they expected, or 

 even cared for. Moving toward the small vale over which 

 we had enjoyed the first run, the hounds were set to work, 

 and they soon gave tongue. A little later, and we saw some 

 coyotes break cover near a rivulet, and after them we went, 

 though at a rather slow rate, as dogs and horses were get- 

 ting pumped. "While moving forward at a heedless pace, 

 we were almost startled out of our wits by seeing charg- 

 ing toward us in full cry a troop of mounted Indians. 



We halted at once, not knowing what to make of the 

 incident, and prepared for trouble, as we supposed that it 

 was a war-party belonging to some tribe that had " broken 

 loose " without a knowledge of the fact having come to our 

 ears. Some of us had empty revolvers, and these we load- 

 ed at once, and dashed out of the valley and on to a knoll, 

 without waiting for a moment to consider the character of 

 the approaching cloud, except that it was not composed of 

 whites ; and having gained a position from which we could 

 run or fight, we halted to reconnoitre. Our fears were 

 soon dispelled, however ; for no less a personage than an 

 individual named Snake Jim, a sub-chief of the Snake tribe, 

 rode up toward us suddenly as if he had risen out of the 

 ground, and after a cheery " how !" informed us that some 

 of the young braves of the village, who belonged to the 

 Snake reservation, and had learned from the whites to have 

 no fear of the "bad medicine" of the coyote, wanted to join 



