150 BUFFALO LAND. 



him the credit of being a good scout and most 

 excellent guide ; but the fact that he can slaughter 

 buffalo is by no means remarkable, since the Ameri- 

 can bison is dangerous game only to amateurs. 



"We were off earl}^ on Tuesday morning for the 

 Saline, our course toward which lay before us a little 

 west of north, the citizens turning out to see us start. 

 We had just parted from Gripe, who went East on 

 the first train to get his ribs healed. " To think, 

 gentlemen," said he, " that I should have escaped 

 rebel bullets and Indian atrocities, only to have 

 my ribs cracked at last b}^ a stampede of mules ! " 

 Poor Gripe's farewell reminded me strongly of the 

 old saying about the ruling passion strong in death. 

 As he stood on the platform, with one hand against 

 his aching side, he could not refrain from waving a 

 courtly adieu with the other, and bowing himself 

 from our presence, into the car, as if leaving the 

 stage after a political speech. 



We were sorry to lose our friend, and this, to- 

 gether with the thought of the weeks of uncertain- 

 ties and anxieties which lay before us, made our exit 

 from Hays rather a solemn affair. Even Tammany 

 Sachem's face was ironed out so completely that not 

 a smile wrinkled it. Dobeen had loaded one wagon 

 with culinary weapons, and now sat among his pots 

 and pans, evidently ill at ease and wishing himself 

 doing any thing else rather than about to plunge 

 further into the wilderness. 



When about to mount Cynocephalus, Semi's feel- 

 ings were wounded by a depraved urchin who sug- 

 gested, "You'd better fust knock that fly off. Boss. 



