40 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
as well as man. The wolves seldom leave him alone. Day 
and night they bestow upon him the most devoted atten- 
tion. However, as long as he is in good health he has lit- 
tle to fear from the marauder; but the moment that acci- 
dent, sickness, or loss of strength from starvation occurs, 
the buffalo’s unhappy position is known, and half a dozen 
of these robbers will remain night and day watching for an 
opportunity to complete the wreck; and should this not oc- 
cur as soon as desirable, not unfrequently they will make 
a simultaneous assault, one pretending to fly at the victim’s 
head, while another attacks in the rear, using every arti- 
fice to cut the buffalo’s hamstring, in which they invariably 
succeed, unless the presence of man should disturb them. 
On one occasion, while hunting, I obtained an excellent 
opportunity of witnessing one of these encounters. At the 
distance of half a mile I perceived an old bull going through 
a variety of eccentric movements, which were at the mo- 
ment perfectly incomprehensible. To know what might be 
the cause, as well as perhaps to learn something new re- 
garding this.race, I left my horse and made a most careful 
stalk without once exposing myself, retaining the advan- 
tage of wind till within a hundred yards of the old gentle- 
man. The ground in the vicinity was much broken, and, 
before attempting to obtain a survey of the situation, I en- 
sconced myself behind a boulder. I had been eminently 
successful, the first glance told me. There was the bull 
pretending to feed, while four prairie-wolves were lying 
around him on the sparsely covered soil, tongues out, and 
evidently short of breath from some excessive exertion. 
None of the dramatis persone had seen me,and I chuckled 
in my shoes as I grasped more firmly my double barrel, 
knowing how soon I could turn the tide of battle. By-the- 
way, the prairie-wolf has always been a favorite of mine, 
as well as his half-brother, the coyote. Their bark has oft- 
