ON THE PRAIRIE 47 



and therefore in a direction that would cut 

 the line of my course less than half a mile 

 ahead of where I was. Knowing that when 

 antelope begin running in a straight line they 

 are very hard to turn, and seeing that they 

 would have to run a longer distance than 

 my horse would to intercept them, I clapped 

 spurs into Manitou, and the game old fel- 

 low, a very fleet runner, stretched himself 

 a to the ground and seemed to go almost 

 as fast as the quarry. As I had expected, 

 the latter, when they saw me running, merely 

 straightened themselves out and went on, 

 possibly even faster than before, without 

 changing the line of their flight, keeping 

 right up wind. Both horse and antelope 

 fairly flew over the ground, their courses 

 being at an angle that would certainly bring 

 them together. Two of the antelope led, by 

 some fifty yards or so, the others, who wero 

 all hunched together. Nearer and nearer we 

 came, Manitou, in spite of carrying myself 

 and the pack behind the saddle, gamely hold- 

 ing his own. while the antelope, with out- 



