40 The King of the Thundering Herd 



were also added to the menu of the Ander- 

 sons. 



Bennie was particularly fond of fishing 

 and hunting, and as the smaller of the two 

 rifles was his, he did his share in keeping 

 the larder well filled. 



Prairie chickens were easily located at 

 this time of the year, as the cocks were 

 much in evidence, standing about upon 

 conspicuous hillocks, swelling out their 

 ruffs and sending their booming love- 

 notes far across the rolling prairies. At 

 such times it was a fairly easy matter to 

 stalk them, if one did not mind crawling a 

 dozen rods or so upon his belly. 



But the sweetest of all the sounds heard 

 upon the broad, rolling prairies, one that 

 always came with the first rays of the sun 

 in the east, was the tumultuous outpour- 

 ing of the prairie larks, the sweetest of all 

 the western singers. This brown bunch of 

 gladness would mount up into the cloudless 



