250 The King of the Thundering Herd 



to me and I would put my arms about his 

 neck and lay my cheek against his face, and 

 rub his nose and pull his soft ears, while he 

 licked the salt sweat from my hand just as 

 you saw him do a few minutes ago. He 

 would follow me all over the farm like a 

 dog and I could call him as far as he could 

 hear my voice. When he became a sturdy 

 young bull I used to ride him on long trips 

 across the prairies. Why, I have ridden 

 him more than a thousand miles. He and 

 I have broken hundreds of acres of bottom- 

 land together. There was never an animal 

 upon the farm that I loved as I did him, 

 with the possible exception of my old dog 

 Shep. That bison and Shep were insepa- 

 rable when the dog was a pup and the bull 

 was a calf. We found him while we were 

 crossing the plains twelve years ago, and we 

 brought him up. I wouldn't shoot him for 

 the world. I couldn't do it anyway. It 

 would be a crime at my hands." 



