60 The King of the Thundering Herd 



comfort by night, and how depressing is a 

 moonless, starless night. By the light of 

 the stars and the moon we get some idea of 

 the immensity of the universe, which even 

 the surpassing brightness of the sun does 

 not reveal. Even when we come down to 

 the warmth and cheer of an open fireplace, or 

 better still a camp-fire, we see how necessary 

 to man's comfort are warmth and light. 



The first glimpse that the Andersons had 

 of a real live buffalo was just at sunset. 

 Sunset and twilight come rather suddenly 

 upon the plains, just as they do upon the 

 ocean. The sober-going prairie schooner 

 was plodding along, making the last mile 

 or two before they would camp for the 

 night, when Bennie, who was always upon 

 the lookout for wild life, descried a massive 

 dark form clearly outlined against the sun- 

 set sky. 



The field-glass was at once brought into 

 play and the distant object proved to be a 



