186 A STRANGE POSITION. 



"Ef any one bed been around an' bed seed it, o' 

 coorse he'd a tbort 'twur all over with this child. 

 When I kem down, 'twur atop o' a buffler's back I fell ; 

 but I reckin I didn't stay thur long. I wur tossed out 

 o' that in the flappin' o' a beaver's tail ; an' lucky 'twur 

 fur me, I reckin, that when I slipped off I kem down 

 standin'. 



"I tuck an idee at wonst, an' jest laid hold o' a 

 buffler's tail by the root, an' clung on as ef I wur glued 

 to it. The bufflers round on eyther side, I guess, tuck 

 me fur a ' painter ' or a b'ar, or some sich varmint, fur 

 they sheered off, an' by-'n-by I wur a-streakin' it acrost 

 the peraira a'most alone wi' my own bull. The crittur 

 hadn't seed me yet. He wur too frightened to wait to 

 see what wur a-clawin' at his tail, an' so he held on, 

 tearin' arter the rest o' the herd, which had wheeled 

 off to one side. I wur safe from bein' tramped to 

 death by the herd, an' I now thort 'twur time to say 

 good-bye to my companion. 



" I guess I wudn't 'a taken it onkind o' him ef he'd a 

 let me slip off 'ithout takin' any notice o' me. But that 

 wurn't what he wur a-gwine to do. I wur jest thinkin' 

 o' this, when on a sudden he put down his nose an' gev 

 a hoist to his hind-quarters that lifted me off my legs 

 afore I cud cry Snakes ! The tail slipped from my 

 fingers, an' down I kem on the peraira. 



"The bull stopped a'most at oncest, looked round, 

 put down his head, shet his eyes, an' kem at me. I 

 bed only jest time to jump on one side when he passed 



