I 4 8 HUNTING TRIPS 



through a brush-covered bottom my pony 

 put both forefeet in a hole made by the fall- 

 ing and uprooting of a tree, and turned a 

 complete somersault, pitching me a good 

 ten feet beyond his head. And finally, 

 while crossing what looked like the hard 

 bed of a dry creek, the earth gave way 

 under my horse as if he had stepped on a 

 trap-door and let him down to his withers 

 in soft, sticky mud. I was off at once and 

 floundered to the bank, loosening the lariat 

 from the saddlebow ; and both of us turning 

 to with a will, and bringing the other pony 

 in to our aid, hauled him out by the rope, 

 pretty nearly strangling him in so doing; 

 and he looked rather a melancholy object 

 as he stood up, trembling and shaking, and 

 plastered with mire from head to tail. 



So far the trip had certainly not been a 

 success, although sufficiently varied as re- 

 gards its incidents; we had been confined 

 to moist biscuits for three days as our food ; 

 had been wet and cold at night, and sun- 

 burned till our faces peeled in the day ; were 



