THE BISON 189 



the spurs to the pony, I galloped after them. Keeping 

 my eyes far ahead on the game, I let the pony look out 

 for any inequalities or holes in the ground, but before 

 long I saw a wide chasm immediately in front of me. 

 There was no time in which to decide if I should draw 

 rein or attempt the leap. The pony had already 

 decided he could make it, and in a moment we were 

 in the air. The space was far too wide, however, and 

 the pony only reached the far bank with his nose. 1 

 went on over his ears and landed safely in the sage- 

 bushes on the loose alkaline earth. The pony dropped 

 out of sight to the bed of a dry creek some eight or ten 

 feet below. As his neck and front struck the bank a 

 cloud of white alkaline dust arose, and those who 

 witnessed the mishap from the camp said there seemed 

 to have been an explosion, a cloud of smoke being in 

 the air, while horse and rider disappeared as if by 

 magic. The shrubs of sage were sufficient to conceal 

 me until I sat up. A number of horsemen galloped out 

 to see what had happened. A soldier dropped into 

 the creek and helped me down one side and up the 

 other, and while he rode away down the creek to find 

 a place where he could get the pony out, I mounted 

 his animal and returned to the camp. I might, of 

 course, easily have broken an arm or even my neck, 

 but was entirely uninjured excepting some scratches 

 from the sage. 



There was no more dang-er in runniner buffaloes than 

 in fox-hunting ; in fact, there was not as much. Serious 

 accidents resulting from a fall were unusual. 



It was not a difficult matter for expert horsemen and 

 cattlemen to cut out a few buffaloes from a herd and 



