THE LURE OF THE PLAINS 115 



his pony and caught it by one hind leg. My automatic 

 pistol was not in working order, and it was necessary to 

 knife the poor beast a job which I hate like poison. 

 The lama walked away a dozen yards and covered his 

 face with the sleeve of his gown. It is against the laws 

 of the Buddhist religion to take the life of any animal or 

 even to see it done, although there are no restrictions as 

 to eating flesh. 



With a blanket the Mongol made a seat for himself 

 on his pony's haunches, and threw the antelope across 

 his saddle ; then we trotted back to camp into the painted 

 western sky, with the cool night air bringing to us the 

 scent of newborn grass. We would not have exchanged 

 our lot that night with any one on earth. 



