HELP AT HAND. 93 



brushwood that to advance without noise was almost 

 impossible, and only to be effected by moving with 

 extreme slowness. 



Jake was aware of this, and diverted the attention of 

 his jailer by shouting at him, and pelting him with 

 branches, which he broke from the tree. This man- 

 oeuvre was successful. The bison pawed the ground, 

 and thrashed through the bushes in his eagerness to 

 vent his rage on the body of his taunting enemy. 



Under cover of the noise which he thus made, the 

 boys advanced more quickly, and in a few minutes 

 reached a spot from which they could fire at close 

 quarters. Crouching behind a huge log, they waited 

 until the bison turned broadside towards them, and 

 each selecting a spot to aim at, they fired together. 



In the damp air and confined space the smoke hung 

 heavy, and prevented them from at once seeing the 

 result of their shots, but a loud hurrah from old 

 Jake, with the exclamation, " Thunder ! thur's a tum- 

 ble ! " announced their success. 



Jake next descended from his uncomfortable seat 

 among the branches, and unsheathing his long knife 

 he cut the bison's throat and proceeded to extract the 

 tongue. 



" I reckon we'll take his skin in the mornm'," he 

 observed ; " an' I'll jest rig up a scare-wolf in a minute." 



This he effected by taking out the bladder, which he 

 distended by blowing through a straw. He tied this 

 contrivance to a stick stuck into the ground beside the 



