1 76 The King of the Thundering Herd 



and although Shep sniffed at it several times 

 he could not be sure that it was Buck's 

 track, for all scent had left it. But the find- 

 ing of this hoof print encouraged Shep and 

 he redoubled his efforts and fled on to the 

 northwest, following by instinct the best he 

 could. 



In the meantime faithless old Buck had 

 apparently made good his escape. He had 

 gone over the same route that he and his 

 master had traveled the autumn before. 

 This was probably what he had been dream- 

 ing of in his stupid ox-like way all the 

 time. The naturalist who says that certain 

 animals do not possess memories, and very 

 good ones, does not share my own opinion. 

 I have frequently had a horse turn in at 

 some forgotten barway or wood road, where 

 I had driven him so long before that all 

 memory of it had escaped me. Perhaps it 

 was five years or maybe it was even ten, 

 but the horse's memory was sure. 



