20 



RECREATION 



sensation one feels in the vastness of 

 the open air. 



Then a half dozen horsemen broke 

 from the line and made a dash forward. 

 The cause was a gray streak that could 

 just be seen going over a rise in the 

 prairie about half a mile away. No use, 

 though, the first coyote had too much of 

 a start, and no horse could run it down 

 on a straight stretch. So they returned 

 to the line with the assurance that it 

 was in the circle, anyway, and they 

 would, later on, have another chance 

 at it. 



Near noon, the north and west lines 

 reached the rim of a hollow plain, prob- 

 ably two miles across and six miles 

 long. Here, by a sort of system of wig- 

 wag signals that was passed from cap- 

 tain to captain, the line was halted. 

 This, then, was to be the scene of the 

 final round-up. 



Across on the opposite rim of this 

 butterbowl-shaped plain, a confused 

 mass of something that looked like a 

 group of small buildings could be seen. 

 But presently this dissolved itself into 

 its component parts, and it was seen to 

 be only a bunch of horsemen, 

 who now strung out in a line ; 

 the magnifying qualities of the 

 rarefied air causing the first 

 deception. One could then hear 

 a rumbling as of continuous 

 thunder, that grew steadily 

 louder. It was the hoof-beats 

 of hundreds and hundreds of 

 horses upon the frozen prairie. 

 Involuntarily one's thoughts 

 turned to the stories of the old 

 plainsmen, who could hear the- 

 coming of the great herd of 

 buffalo hours before the ani- 

 mals could be seen. 



Down in the hollow could now be 

 seen one huge coyote running here 

 and there, instinct or sense of hear- 

 ing dictating the direction in which 

 the horsemen were the more numerous. 

 It came toward the line that was halted, 

 the silence apparently deceiving it. A 

 short chase by a few riders, however, 

 turned it again toward the opposite 



hill. There the same tactics once more 

 sent it back toward the silent line, this 

 time to break through or die. 



Our rig had been kept in the front 

 line all day, and it came straight toward 

 us, evidently deciding that to be the 

 weakest point in the line. Our camera 

 man had unpacked his instrument long 

 before this, and advanced to meet the 

 animal with his deadly weapon. This 

 was too much for a crowd of the men 

 on horseback, and a string of dogs 

 were also let loose. A semicircle of 

 horsemen now darted forward like an 

 avalanche. The pent up savage blood 

 had finally broken loose. The man in 

 the buggy caught the general con- 

 tagion, and, with a whoop, he sent the 

 blacks over the rough prairie at a 2.10 

 clip, leaving the crestfallen and disap- 

 pointed photographer half a mile in the 

 rear ; the man with the reins forgot one 

 of the principal objects of the trip in 

 the excitement of the sport. But as 

 compensation for the loss of a photog- 

 rapher and a possibly interesting pho- 

 tograph, he was within a few yards 

 of the scrimmage and saw the hounds 



ONE OF THE VICTIMS 



fight it out with the biggest coyote cap- 

 tured that day. It could only end one 

 way ; they were six to one. The hunted 

 animal was lying gasping on the 

 ground when- the first horseman rode 

 up, and with a merciful bullet from 

 a Colt's, ended this incident. At almost 

 the same time, another coyote made a 

 break toward the point in the line 



