158 The King of the Thundering Herd 



The following morning Bennie went back 

 over the trail of the stampede as nearly as 

 he could, looking for the little rifle that he 

 prized so highly, but found nothing of it, 

 although he made some discoveries concern- 

 ing the stampede. 



He found that the gulch into which they 

 had plunged, when he had been so nearly 

 unseated, varied greatly in depth. In some 

 places it was twenty or thirty feet deep, 

 while in others there was merely a sharply 

 sloping bank. It was at such a point that he 

 and Buck must have made their passage. 



At one point, where it was deeper than 

 anywhere else, there was a pitiful sight, for 

 the crevasse had been filled entirely full of 

 buffalo and the rest of the herd had passed 

 over upon the bodies of their fallen comrades. 



The gorge was still piled with dead and 

 maimed bison, many of them kicking and 

 thrashing, and their bawling and moaning 

 could be heard for a mile. 



