ON THE PRAIRIE 51 



pools of water, some of it fresh and good. 

 I rode into a great bend, with a grove of 

 trees on its right and containing excellent 

 feed. Manitou was loosed, with the lariat 

 round his neck, to feed where he wished un- 

 til I went to bed, when he was to be taken 

 to a place where the grass was thick and 

 succulent, and tethered out for the night. 

 There was any amount of wood with which 

 a fire was started for cheerfulness, and some 

 of the coals were soon raked off apart to 

 cook over. The horse blanket was spread on 

 the ground, with the oil-skin over it as a 

 bed, underneath a spreading cotton-wood 

 tree, while the regular blanket served as cov- 

 ering. The metal cup was soon filled with 

 water and simmering over the coals to make 

 tea, while an antelope steak was roasting on 

 a forked stick. It is wonderful how cosy a 

 camp, in clear weather, becomes if there is a 

 good fire and enough to eat, and how sound 

 the sleep is afterward., in the cool air. with 

 the brilliant stars glimmering through the 

 branches overhead. In the country where I 



