A SUDDEN CHANGE IN AFFAIRS. 155 



mind and came back. Our maiden efforts in buffalo 

 hunting promised such modesty as to refuse a public 

 appearance, unless together. 



Our cook had been instructed by the guide to avail 

 himself of the ravines, and after getting as near the 

 herd as possible, then spur rapidly up to it. He 

 went off at a gallop, his solid body flying clear of 

 the saddle whenever the donkey's feet struck ground, 

 and soon disappeared in a ravine which seemed to 

 promise a winding way almost into the very midst 

 of the herd. We watched intently for his reappear- 

 ance. In such periods of suspense the minutes seem 

 strangely long, creeping as slowly toward their 

 allotted three-score as they do when one, at a sick- 

 bed vigil, listens for the funeral chimes of the clock, 

 telling when the minutes are buried in the hours. 



At length, in the far away distance, we descried 

 Shamus, disdaining further concealment, riding gal- 

 lantly out of the ravine for a charge. A few mo- 

 ments more and game and hunter were face to face, 

 and we held our breath, expecting to see the dark 

 cloud dash away with our bloodthirsty cook at 

 its skirts. "As I am alive," suddenly ejaculated 

 Muggs, "Dobeen's coming this way, at a bloody 

 good run, and the buffalo after him!" We could 

 scarcely believe our eyes, but, sure enough, it was a 

 clear case of pursuer and pursued, with the appro- 

 priate positions entirely reversed. Shamus seemed 

 imitating that famous hunter who brought home his 

 bear-meat alive, preceding it by only half a coat-tail. 

 But the game before us was changing in appearance 



