IN THE FAR WEST. 183 



rally at once when the assembly call of " hoopee " was shouted. 

 This matter being understood, we advanced slowly in search 

 of the animals, but we could see nothing of them, though 

 antelopes in large numbers were met, and the prairie seemed 

 to be alive with birds. We also noted that the grass was not 

 trampled, and deducing from this that the buffaloes had not 

 come so far south, we put spurs to our horses and can- 

 tered on a few miles further. On reaching a large meadow 

 near the Platte River, we espied a cow and a calf grazing to- 

 gether. As they were the first seen, it was decided to capture 

 them for luck, so two men were detailed to carry the resolu- 

 tion into effect. They galloped down through the long grass, 

 which reached almost to the saddle-girths, and were soon beside 

 the cow and running her hard. She coursed about in a lively 

 manner, first in one direction, then in another, according as she 

 was headed off, until she was finally brought to bay through 

 sheer fatigue, and one of the men killed her with his revolver. 



The calf had, in the meanwhile, broken away and headed 

 straight for the low, rolling bluffs or hillocks about two 

 miles distant from the stream. This brought it across our 

 path, so the leader and myself concluded to lasso it with some 

 heavy ropes that we carried. 



Starting in pursuit, we followed it down a trail, then up 

 the bluffs, but I found that the famous buffalo-runner I 

 bestrode was far behind in the chase, and that I could not 

 even keep in sight of my companion. I therefore slowed 

 down to a walk, and gave way to a vigorous rumination about 

 the man who introduced me to his horse. While engaged in 

 this unpleasant meditation I espied a calf a few yards away, 

 and concluded to see if I could not have better luck with that 

 than the previous one. Riding slowly towards it, and as much 

 under shelter as the ground would permit, I approached it to 

 within fifty yards before I was detected, then away we both 

 went. After running about a mile T drew close to it and 

 made a throw, but the rope being heavy, and the wind blow- 

 ing strongly against me, I missed, much to my chagrin. I 

 lost nothing in speed, however, by the cast, and, still keeping 

 up the pursuit, and coursing the creature in every direction, 1 



