fore, "it is because I love you so that I 

 keep you shut up in this yard. A big, 

 wicked panther lives near here, and he 

 might carry you off, just as he did my 

 little lamb. I never told you about it 

 before, because I did not want to make 

 you fee] sad^ and — and, Lopez, I thought 

 maybe you would feel jealous if you 

 knew how much I had cared for some- 

 thing else." 



I tried to make her understand that I 

 was not in the least jealous of the dead 

 lamb ; also that the fact that a panther 

 lived near the ranch did not alarm me. 

 I longed for freedom — glorious free- 

 dom — and felt that there was no animal 

 of the plains that I would not willingly 

 enter the lists against in a foot race. 



One bright morning, soon after this, 

 Polly's father opened the gate, at the 

 same time saying to her, ''I am going to 

 turn Lopez out for a little while this 

 morning and let him stretch his legs and 

 eat some grass." 



'*Oh, papa!" she cried; he will run 

 away, and the panther will catch him." 



"Oh, no," her father repHed; "he will 

 come back, and you need not fear the 

 panther at this time of day." 



Caution is one of the characteristic 

 traits of my family, so I approached the 

 open gate slowly and stood looking out 

 for a few moments. The ranch is situ- 

 ated on the bank of a small stream, which 

 here swings around, forming a deep 

 crescent. Lying within the loop, be- 

 tween the stream and a low range of hills, 

 which just above the house flattens down 

 to a ridge, is a lovely valley, level as a 

 floor, and perhaps a mile and a half in 

 length. At the widest point it is not 

 over three-quarters of a mile '(wide and 

 narrows down to a point at each end of 

 the crescent. When I saw this beauti- 

 ful playground my heart leaped with 

 joy, and I sprang away with the fleet- 

 ness of the wind. When T had tired my- 

 self out running around the valley I 

 came back to Polly, who still stood l)y 

 the open gate. 



After this Polly allowed mc to go out 

 every morning, and again late in the af- 

 ternoon ; and a little later T had perfect 

 freedom, going and coming when it 

 pleased me. T never stayed out at night, 

 however, and bnt seldom went beyond 



the beauitful valley, which was my play- 

 ground. 



One warm day in midsummer Polly 

 and her father came out to the live-oak 

 tree by the gate, in the dense shade of 

 which I usually took my noon nap. Polly 

 was carrying her little work basket and. 

 some bright red ribbon. Her father had 

 a strap of leather and a small bright 

 buckle. I got up at once and went to 

 them, curious to know what they were 

 going to do, besides the scarlet ribbon 

 was very attractive. I soon saw that 

 they were making me a collar. The 

 strap was measured to fit my neck and 

 then covered with the ribbon. Then the 

 buckle was put on and a very large bow 

 of ribbon, which showed off handsomely 

 against the white of my neck and breast, 

 finished the collar. 



Soon after I learned the utility of this 

 collar. It was early morning, and I had 

 gone over the ridge and was quietly 

 feeding. Suddenly I raised my head 

 and saw a man, not fifty yards away, 

 with his gun leveled toward me. I 

 looked at him very straight, and he low- 

 ered his gun and went away. My bright 

 collar had saved my life. 



One bright November day I had gone 

 to the top of the hill and was looking 

 away over that beautiful plain, when 

 Polly came and stood by me, her hand 

 resting gently on my neck. Suddenly 

 the thought came to me that it would be 

 a fine thing for Polly and I to go away 

 and live on the plains. What a free and 

 happy life we would lead ! We probab- 

 ly would find other antelopes, and Polly 

 in time might learn to run as fast as L 



As this idea took shape, I determined 

 to try it at once. So, without giving 

 Polly any warning, I sprang away and 

 ran a short distance, then turned around 

 and invited her to come on. She, think- 

 ing that I wanted to romp, came after 

 me ; but when she could almost touch 

 me, I ran away as before, and again she 

 came after me, laughing with glee. This 

 maneuver I repeated several times, all 

 the time going further out on. the prairie. 

 At last Polly stopped and looked back. 

 Then, to divert her attention, I put forth 

 all my efforts to draw her into a romp. 

 First, by nmning around her in a circle, 

 and tlion stopping near her to jump up 



ISO 



