A Strange Ride 137 



before they saw him ride, but after that 

 astonishing event, which was the nearest 

 approach to a circus that the frontier could 

 boast, he was fairly spoiled with petting 

 and admiration. He punctuated all his 

 riding with a sharp, imperative voice, that 

 urged the buffalo to his fastest pace, but he 

 also did many things similar to those done 

 by circus-dogs which have been trained to 

 ride for exhibition. 



He would ride standing perfectly erect, 

 and straight as a drum-major. Then he 

 would ride lying down, as though he were 

 an Indian trying to escape arrows or bullets. 

 Then he would turn about and ride with his 

 head toward the buffalo's tail, and all the 

 time his face was covered with a doggish 

 grin that plainly said, " Don't you see how 

 well I can do it ? " 



But the most wonderful thing of all that 

 our circus-dog did was to mount while the 

 buffalo was in motion. First, Bennie would 



