236 SPORT IN NOETH AMEKICA. 



either to kill him, or to drive out the devil which 

 jDOssessed him. My permission was quite super- 

 fluous, but I have always thought that the creature 

 understood what I said, and resolved therefore to 

 be revenged in the manner which I shall presently 

 describe. 



My companions were all full of gaiety and courage, 

 and certainly we were a very merry band. The life 

 of adventure which they were leading formed the 

 staple of the conversation, and I listened to the recital 

 of some very astonishing adventures with lively in- 

 terest. So the day passed without weariness, and 

 in the evening the Mexican brought me my horse, 

 broken, as he said, to perfection. 



We had now quitted the pleasant and picturesque 

 country through which the earlier stages of our 

 journey had passed, and were travelling through a 

 waste and sterile plain where there was nothing to 

 rejoice the sight. There were neither hills, nor 

 trees, nor even a single bush, to break the mono- 

 tony of the surface. For three days, we travelled 

 across this plain. 



At last, in the evening, when we were beginning 

 to find this monotony insupportable, we perceived 

 on the horizon what seemed at first to be a line of 

 dark clouds ; they were the elevated summits of 

 the San Saba Mountains. On beholding them, the 

 little man, who had been bored more than any of us 

 by the long ride across the prairie, became quite 



