TEN DAYS IN MONTANA. 141 



in that region fit for themselves or their ponies to drink, that 

 it was all so strongly charged with buffalo manure and urine 

 as to be unfit for use. He said furthermore that he wanted 

 some fresh meat for his men, and would be glad to join us on 

 the hunt, that he would take with him an escort of ten men 

 and a team or two to bring in the meat. By the time these 

 matters were arranged supper was announced, and we repaired 

 to the Major's mess tent, where a spread awaited us that 

 would have done honor to a king's table. There was venison 

 steak, antelope steak, broiled buffalo tenderloin, Saratoga 

 potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, stewed tomatoes, corn, 

 vegetables, fruit, pastry, desserts, and other articles too 

 numerous to mention. Imagine six hungry men arrayed 

 before such a lay-out as this, six men who had ridden all day 

 across the plains with a September wind fanning their manly 

 brows and appetites ; six men whose appetites had been 

 sharpened for the last two hours by such news as we had been 

 listening to ; and these six men being ordered by their host 

 to " pitch in." But, reader, if you have never been there, 

 your imagination, however vivid, will fail to picture the scene 

 correctly. The onslaught was furious, our victory was com- 

 plete, and when we withdrew from that hospitable board the 

 table looked as bare as the plains were reported to be, where 

 the great herd of buffaloes had grazed over them. 



Supper over, we retired to our tent, where the Major, his 

 subordinate officers and Mr. Leasure again joined us. They 

 entertained us with reminiscences of frontier life, Indian war- 

 fare, hunting yarns, etc., till the night waned into the wee 

 sma' hours. Then they left us, and we retired to our bunks. 

 But how is a man to sleep under such circumstances, with his 

 mind full of such fancies as filled our minds that night ? 



Here we are, away out in Montana, more than a thousand 

 miles from the stately edifice in which these lines will be put 



