In Buffalo Days 



we would brlnsf in the desired meat. The 

 troops would march during the day, for the 

 commanding officer had no notion of waiting 

 in camp merely for fresh meat, and we were 

 to go out, hunt, and overtake the command 

 at their night's camp. 



The next day after we had reached the 

 buffalo range, we started out long before 

 the eastern sky was gray, and were soon 

 riding off over the chilly prairie. The trail 

 which the command was to follow ran a little 

 north of east, and we kept to the south and 

 away from it, believing that in this direction 

 we would find the game, and that if we 

 started them they would run north or north- 

 west — against the wind, so that we could kill 

 them near the trail. Until some time after 

 the sun had risen, we saw nothing larger than 

 antelope; but at length, from the top of a high 

 hill, we could see, far away to the east, dark 

 dots on the prairie, which we knew could only 

 be buffalo. They were undisturbed too ; for, 

 though we watched them for some time, we 

 could detect no motion in their ranks. 



It took us nearly two hours to reach the 

 low, broken buttes on the north side of which 



203 



