296 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMEEICA. 



ability to dry meat properly, and of his willingness to let 



E and myself kill the meat, while Y hauled it in, 



I began wondering what had happened to him during the 

 day, to frighten him into giving up the hunt without kill- 

 ing a single Buffalo. He never shot at another Buffalo 

 from that day to this. 



Peace again reigned in Warsaw, for I was perfectly will- 

 ing to hunt with E — — , who was a very pleasant compan- 

 ion; and, although he hunted alone the following day, 



while I piloted Y to the dead animals, yet during the 



three succeeding days we were side by side, and he was- 

 only prevented from accompanying me on the last day by 

 the fact that his feet were too badly blistered to go. 



As the darkness fell around the lonely camp-fire, and the 

 flitting 'shadows danced and waved along the edge of the 

 surrounding gloom, the hunters drew near together in front 

 of the cheerful blaze, and anecdote and reminiscence from 

 the life-history of each served to pass the interval until 

 bed- time; and, among the experiences that interested us, 



Y told us of a thrilling sight, when he, together with 



others of the wagon-train with which he at that time 

 belonged, watched a race where a human life seemed for 

 the moment not worth a straw, and where all the deeply 

 interested spectators were powerless to avert the impend- 

 ing doom. 



A young German, absolutely without experience, had 

 recently joined the wagon-train, and being possessed of 

 an intense desire to kill a Buffalo, had borrowed a rifle 

 from one of his companions, and, during the usual noon 

 halt, one day, when Buffaloes appeared about a mile dis- 

 tant, sallied forth alone, in quest of game. 



The prairie wa,s nearly level, and while in plain view of 

 the men of the train, he was observed to fire at a Buffalo 

 cow, and, immediately and very imprudently showing 

 himself to the cow, she dashed at him at full speed. The 

 gun was a muzzle-loader; there was not time to reload, 

 and the would-be hunter incontinently took to his heels. 

 Seeing his imminent peril, Y , together with several 



