AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 211 



upon them unawares. This aroused the Mexican's 

 ire, and he promptly offered to wager a goodly sum 

 that his dogs would pull down one or both of 

 the antelopes within a mile. The challenge was 

 accepted, the stakes deposited, the antelopes turned 

 into the street, and the "greaser" told his dogs 

 to "take 'em." 



The dogs sprang at the antelopes, but the latter 

 had by this time reached a vacant lot across the 

 street. They started off down the river. For a 

 distance of four miles the river bottom was an open 

 prairie, and as level as a floor. As the quartette 

 sped over this grand natural race-course, the whole 

 populace of the town turned out en masse to see the 

 race. Men and boys shouted, and ladies waved 

 their handkerchiefs. Betting was rife, the natives 

 offering two to one on the antelopes, the Mexican 

 and the few other strangers in town being eager 

 takers. It was nip and tuck, neither animals gain- 

 ing nor losing perceptibly, and when at last the four 

 went round a bend in the river four miles away, and 

 were hidden by a bluff, the game was, as nearly as 

 could be seen by the aid of good field-glasses, just 

 about the same distance ahead of the dogs as when 

 they left town. 



Some hours later the dogs returned, so tired they 

 could scarcely walk. The Mexican eagerly looked 

 for hair on their teeth, and although he could find 

 none, was confident that his dogs had killed the 

 antelopes. A mounted expedition to search for the 

 carcasses and settle the question was agreed upon, 

 but as it was too near night to start when the dogs 

 returned, it was arranged to go in the morning. But 



