A Strange Ride 131 



though, that he best loved to work. Ben- 

 nie had broken him to harness and also 

 taught him to drive under the whip like an 

 ox. Bennie could summon him from any 

 part of the farm as far as he could hear his 

 master's prolonged call, at the sound of 

 which the young buffalo would come trot- 

 ting or galloping from the more distant 

 portions of their homestead. He knew 

 well that Bennie would reward his faithful- 

 ness with a turnip, or, if he could not do 

 any better, that he would pull him a tender 

 wisp of grass. 



But as the buffalo grew strong of limb 

 and broad of back, the name Little Bighead, 

 which had described him to a nicety the 

 morning Bennie had found him upon the 

 north bank of the Missouri, hidden by old 

 Brindle under a cottonwood, became a sad 

 misfit. His head was no longer so badly 

 out of proportion to the rest of his body. 

 So finally Bennie rechristened him, and he 



