374 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



her side. Leaving her, I followed the youngsters, which 

 were running wildly about, as if dazed with fear and the 

 loss of their guardian, and in a few minutes had my lasso 

 about the neck of one. Taking a quick turn of the lariat 

 about the pommel of the Mexican saddle, I dismounted, 

 and left the well-trained mustang to hold the quarry while 

 I tied its legs. This done, I went in quest of its mate, and 

 soon descried it on a knoll, gazing wistfully about for its 

 lost companions. A run of two miles or more after this 

 also placed it in the noose of my lasso; but it was more 

 difficult to capture than the previous one, as it coursed 

 and turned with the agility of a hare; and the morning 

 breeze, which had just begun blowing, sent the lariat wide 

 of its mark in several instances. I had to throw at least a 

 dozen times before I was fortunate enough to accomplish 

 my purpose. Tying a rope behind the fore-shoulders of 

 this creature, I led it nolens volens to where I had left its 

 comrades, and finishing the dam with a shot in the head, I 

 gazed with pleasure on my spoils. I was so lost to every- 

 thing but the excitement of the chase that I paid no heed 

 to my companions ; and it was only when I heard the hunt- 

 er's call, " Hoo-oo pee-ee," delivered in a sharp, high falset- 

 to tone, that I was reminded of their existence. I respond- 

 ed to the cry, and in a few moments more the party came 

 dashing on, yelling, "Victory! victory! hoop-la!" A 

 brief consultation was held, on meeting, and it was decided 

 that, as our horses were too fatigued to run again for 

 awhile, we should give the dogs their share of the amuse- 

 ment for the remainder of the day. That matter having 

 been settled, the wagon was sent for, and we went around 

 picking up the slain animals, which amounted to only four. 

 I was the only person who was fortunate enough to lasso 

 any of the numerous progeny that followed their guardi- 

 ans ; so they were given to me to dispose of as I pleased. 



Leaving that section, from which all the animals were 

 driven by the reports of the firing, we marched five miles, 

 and entered a small knoll-bound plain, along whose crests 

 we could sec several herds quietly grazing ; but every few 



