ON THE PRAIRIE 



75 



(theElkhorn) had gone off with theirs. Then 

 of the cowboys was to take the buck- 

 board up to a deserted hunter's hut, which 

 lay on a great bend of the river near by the 

 ground over which the big-horn were said to 

 wander, while my foreman, Merrifield, and 

 myself would take saddle-horses, and each 

 ride to the country through which we 

 intended to hunt, returning at night to the 

 buck-board and hut. But we started a little 

 sooner than we had intended, owing to a 

 funny mistake made by one of the cowboys. 

 The sun did not rise until nearly eight, 

 but each morning we breakfasted at five, and 

 the men were then sent out on the horses 

 h had been kept in overnight, to find 

 and drive home the pony band; of course 

 they started in perfect darkness, except for 

 the starb'ght. On the last day of our pro- 

 posed stay the men had come in with the 

 ponies before sunrise; and, leaving the lat- 

 ter in the corral, they entered the house and 

 crowded round the fire, stamping and beat- 

 ing their numbed hands together. In the 



