5i6 



RECREATION 



that the antelope had lost all thought of 

 me and were deeply interested in some- 

 thing else, which from their actions I 

 concluded to be recognized as an enemy. 

 It was now apparent to me that if Big 

 Pete did not hunt the prong horns some 

 one or something else did hunt them. 



As a bunch broke away from the scat- 

 tered groups and came in my direction, 

 making giant leaps over the prairie, I 

 detected the cause of their panic in the 

 form of a huge eagle which was keeping 

 pace with and flying over the fleeing 

 prong horns. 



The bird was, not more than a dozen 

 feet above the animals' backs and in 

 vain the poor creatures tried to distance 

 their pursuer. At length they scattered, 

 each one taking a course of its own. 

 Then the bird did a strange thing. It 

 singled out the largest buck and, persist- 

 ently following him, came directly to- 

 wards me and passed within ten feet of 

 my ambush, the broad wings of its re- 

 lentless foe casting a dark shadow over 

 the straining muscles of the little ani- 

 mal's back. I was tempted to rise and 

 drive the bird away or shoot it with my 

 revolver, but the thought that I had 

 seen that bird before restrained me, and 

 the fact that it pursued a strong, healthy 

 buck instead of selecting a weaker and 

 more easy prey convinced me that this 

 eagle had been trained to the hunt and 

 was not a wild bird. The immutable 

 law that labor follows the line of least 

 resistance holds good with all wild crea- 

 tures. It was not long before I had to 

 use my field glasses to follow the chase 

 and then I discovered that the poor 

 prong horn was showing signs of fa- 

 tigue. It had made a grave error in 

 dashing up an incline, and the eagle 

 from his position above knew that the 

 time to strike had arrived, and, like a 

 thunder bolt, it fell, striking its hooked 

 talons in the graceful neck of the terror- 

 stricken antelope. 



Hoping to get a nearer view of the 

 last tragedy, I hastened towards the 

 spot, and before I was aware of my 

 position found myself close to the herd 

 of buffalo. I then saw that these beasts, 



being unaccustomed to man, did not 

 fear him, but on the contrary, meant to 

 show fight. As I came to a sudden halt 

 the old bulls began to paw the earth, 

 throwing the dirt up over their backs 

 and bellowing with a low, vibrating 

 roar that was terror-inspiring. Then 

 they dropped on their knees and rolled 

 over in the dust, got up, shook them- 

 selves, licked their noses, "rolled up 

 their tails" into stiff curves, put down 

 their heads and came at me. The cows, 

 with their back hair standing on end 

 like angry elks and bleating loudly, were 

 not behind their lords in aggressiveness, 

 and the comical little calves came 

 bouncing along after their dams. 



Was I frightened? That depends 

 upon one's definition of the word. I 

 was not panic-stricken, but to say that 

 I was not excited when I saw those 

 animated masses of dark brown wool 

 come roaring and thundering at me 

 would be to make a boast that no one 

 who has had a similar experience would 

 believe. 



Fortunately not far behind me there 

 was the hollow or gully already men- 

 tioned, and I bolted over the edge of it ; 

 as soon as the bank concealed my per- 

 son I ran as I never ran before, taking 

 a course at right angles to my original 

 one and to leeward of the herd, and at 

 last, out of breath, I rolled over in the 

 weeds and lay there panting and strain- 

 ing my ears to hear the snorting beasts. 



My chest felt dry, hot and oppressed 

 from forced and labored breathing, and 

 had the buffalo discovered me I do not 

 think I could have run another step. 

 But the big brutes halted at the edge 

 of the bank, and seeing no one in sight 

 walked around pawing dirt and swear- 

 ing most terrible, vibrating buffalo 

 oaths, calling in bison language for me 

 to come on if I wanted to fight. Like 

 many a small boy when he hears the 

 same challenge from a gang of toughs, 

 I decided that I did not want to fight 

 and lay as quiet as possible among the 

 sun flowers until I had regained my 

 breath and the buffalo had wandered 

 back to their original pasture land. 



