440 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 
heat of the ground and the still smouldering stubs of grass 
became insufferable to his feet, and then he turned to mount. 
He now, for the first time, looked at the animal carefully, 
and to his horror, saw that nearly every hair upon its body 
was gone, and little but the bare skin left, and that was 
so badly scorched in places, as to come off at the slightest 
touch. 
This was dreadful enough, but—water! water! water! he 
must have that, or they would both die. He sprang into 
the saddle and urged the wretched creature along with the 
last energies of his sinking life. In an hour he had begun 
to grow dizzy, and the blgckened earth swam round and 
round, and tossed him to and fro! Now a strange noise 
was about him; and as the lifting waves of the earth would 
almost seem to leap up into his face, he would catch glimpses 
of huge wolves careering on them, turning up their fiery 
eyes to his, and howling at him with red hot open mouths 
and lolling tongues! Suddenly his horse rushed down a 
steep bank, and there was a great splashing. Water! 
Blessed God, water! He tumbled from his saddle into 
the cold delicious fluid. 
In an instant his senses had returned, and he saw himself 
surrounded by thirty or forty prairie wolves, some of whom 
were swimming in the water after him, while the others sat 
upon the bank of the small lake, and howled their gathering 
cry. He struck those which were nearest with his gun barrel 
and beat them off, while he had time to draw his heavy knife. 
One of them had seized his passive horse, who, while it was 
endeavoring to pull him down, stood still and drank—the 
long eager draughts. He split the wolf’s head with his 
knife, and soon sent the rest back out of the water, yelling 
with their wounds. But those upon the bank only howled 
the 1ouder, and they were answered near at hand and from 
ufar by hundreds of others, who were swiftly gathering in 
at the well-known call to a banquet. = 
