136 The King of the Thundering Herd 



first prize, which went to a grizzled old 

 Kentuckian ; but Bennie was glad enough 

 to rank second among these sure shots. 



It was no wonder that he could shoot, for 

 his little rifle had scarcely been out of his 

 hands for the past six years. Away back 

 in Indiana, when he was a slip of a boy, he 

 had learned to plug squirrels through the 

 head, and this made the large game of the 

 plains an easy mark. 



Bennie entered Buck in the races, which 

 were running races between the scrub ponies 

 and broncos. In the short distance Buck 

 could not start quickly enough to win, but 

 in a five-mile race across rough country he 

 easily came in ahead, to the great delight 

 of the crowd, which roared itself hoarse as 

 the ponderous buffalo came pounding in at 

 the home-stretch. 



But greatest of all was the interest in the 

 dog rider. Shep was such a good-natured 

 dog that he had won the hearts of all, even 



