96 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



Shortly after the Professor left us, I discovered 

 a fine specimen, one of those mentioned earlier in 

 this chapter, three miles below Cow Island, near the 

 base of a high tableland, where I kept my pony 

 picketed while I worked. One day, when I prepared 

 to mount him, I noticed that he was unusually quiet. 

 His custom was to start on a run as soon as my 

 foot touched the stirrup, leaving me to get into the 

 saddle as best I could. This time he stood still, and 

 when I reached my seat and lifted the lines, I found 

 that they were perfectly useless, as the curb was 

 broken. 



Before I could dismount, the brute started at a 

 rapid pace across the tableland toward a sheer preci- 

 pice, hundreds of feet high. I settled myself firmly 

 in the saddle and hung on with both hands to the 

 hand-holds behind, fearing that he might try to 

 hurl me over ; and that was just what he did. When 

 he got within a few inches of the brink, he planted 

 his feet and stopped suddenly. But Providence and 

 long practice in riding all kinds of horses enabled 

 me to keep my seat, and fortunately, the saddle 

 girths held. 



I was just about to dismount, when suddenly the 

 determined animal whirled around and started for 

 the precipice on the other side, where he went 

 through the same performance. And not satisfied 

 even then, tried the trick a third time. Then he al- 



