THE BUFFALO. 241 



selves farther apart, and left a space through which I rap- 

 idly retreated. On emerging at the rear, I found a party 

 of hunters there at a full stop, evidently awaiting some 

 exciting or important event; and when they saw me they 

 asked if I knew of any man being killed in front. I guess- 

 ed at the cause of their alarm at once, and told them I had 

 not. " Well," said one, " there's some idiot there among 

 the buffaloes, and he's been either shot or caught in the 

 herds, and he's yelling like a pig under a gate. He seems 

 to be a regular greenhorn, for if he doesn't want to be shot 

 he ought to keep on the outside of a herd." "Never mind, 

 Bill," said another, " if he's dead we can't help it, and if he 

 ain't we'll find him. Let's be off; we can't afford to lose 

 our buffaloes;" and, without another word, they started off 

 in pursuit of the runaways. I did not care to explain mat- 

 ters to them, so I jogged toward camp, and reached it by 

 six o'clock. 



I found the greater number of our party there; and 

 though several of them had been thrown, yet only one was 

 severely injured, and he had his collar-bone injured by a 

 fall. By seven o'clock all were assembled, and we sat 

 down to a savory dinner, the chief part of which was buf- 

 falo humps and tongues; and most palatable they seemed 

 to hungry men. After picketing our weary horses so that 

 they could graze, all retired to bed except the solitary sen- 

 tinel; but we could get little sleep, owing to the wild, mel- 

 ancholy howling of the wolves, and the deep bellowing of 

 the buffaloes, which frequently approached close to our 

 fires. We were up early the next morning, as we intended 

 to bring in the animals we had killed ; for to hunt on that 

 day with our wearied steeds was out of the question. 



After breakfast we sallied forth ; but we had not pro- 

 ceeded more than two miles before we met a courier, who 

 informed us that he had ridden from Kearney Junction, 

 some sixty or seventy miles distant, to inform the settlers 

 that the Indians were expected to make a raid on the val- 

 ley, under pretence of coming there to hunt. He reported 

 that a telegram had been received at Kearney the previous 



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