278 AWFUL THUNDER-STORMS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Camp on Buffalo Creek. Awful thunder-storins. Two cowboys visit our 

 camp. "We return the visit. Description of a "shack." Stories of 

 attacks by Indians. A buck-jumper. A curious shot. A refractory 

 mare. Loss of a horse. A herd of wild horses. Old Bridger's opinion 

 of them. Camp nearly destroyed by fire. Poisoning wild animals. 

 A ghost story. 



I DO not think that we ever lived better in any camp than that 

 on Buffalo Creek. Turkeys were so plentiful that we only ate 

 the choice parts, feeding our dogs with the remainder. We 

 had as much venison as we wanted, besides ducks and grouse 

 our only trouble being to dispose of all the game we got, as we 

 never let any spoil if we could help it. 



One night we had a succession of the most awful thunder- 

 storms I ever saw. Our horses were used to living in the open 

 air, and yet on this occasion they were so frightened that if we 

 had not gone out and held them, they would have broken 

 loose and have been lost. It would have been an amusing 

 sight for a spectator if he could have seen us, in the light 

 costume of a hat and a pair of boots, holding on to the horses 

 in a pelting rain, and being dragged in all directions by them, 



