252 The King of the Thundering Herd 



Then the shadows swallowed him and he 

 was gone forever as far as the young trooper 

 was concerned. 



Henceforth he would be but a shadow out 

 of the shadeland of memory, a phantom 

 that would come and go with the years 

 when Ben recalled the old days upon the 

 farm, those dear old boyhood days that 

 fled away from the present as Buck had fled 

 away from the soldiers. 



" I guess we had better ride back to camp 

 now/' said the major kindly. " Supper and 

 a warm fire will do us all good." 



" How did you know this was your partic- 

 ular buffalo?" continued the major, as he 

 turned his horse and led the way back to 

 camp, for he was not yet quite convinced. 



" It was in this way/' replied Benjamin. 

 " You see the last fall that I had him he 

 was restless and did not act as he used to, 

 and I half imagined that he might run 

 away, although I did not really think he 



