CHAPTER XXII
HUNTING WITH A SIX-SHOOTER
The round-up was over and the representatives of the various brands hadstarted off in different directions toward their home ranches, takingwith them the few cattle that had been gathered during these last days.With the Sturgis party went also Jack Mason, whom McIntyre had engagedonly for the round-up, and who was beginning to get uneasy and to longto resume his wandering life. When he paid him off, McIntyre said toMason that he would be glad to have him work on the ranch for the restof the season, and even hinted that he would give him a job for thewinter, but to these proposals Mason shook his head, laughingly, anddeclared that his steady job had lasted long enough and that now he wasgoing to make a little trip.
There were thus five men in the party that was traveling toward SwiftWater Ranch. They had about fifty head of cattle and twenty-five horsesto drive. The distance was short, the weather fine, and they expectedto reach the ranch in three or four days, at the most.
The morning after the round-up outfits had separated, they started ingood season, traveling up a broad open valley between the mountains,where in many places the grass stood well above the horses' knees. Asthey drove along, antelope were constantly seen ahead of them, which,though not shy, always moved off ahead, or ran up the open side valleyswhich at short intervals emptied into the main one.
"Son," Hugh said to Jack, who was riding near him, "why don't you andDonald go ahead and try to kill a buck antelope with your pistols? I'mgetting hungry for a piece of wild meat. I've had so much beef latelythat it seems to me I can pretty near feel my horns sprouting;" and herubbed his hand over the side of his head. "The buck antelope oughtto be in pretty fair order now, and I don't know why you shouldn't beable to get up pretty close to 'em, if you work along close to theside of the valley, and see the antelope before they see you. They'regreat fellows, you know, to climb up and lie where they can look outover the country. If you had rifles you'd be sure to get a shot or two.I don't know what kind of a pistol shot you are. Most of us can't domuch with these short guns, though Major Frank North, down in Nebraska,could kill game as well with a pistol as I could with a rifle. Manya time I've seen him kill deer and antelope at a hundred yards, whatwe'd think was a good rifle shot, and he was using just an ordinaryrevolver."
"That's a good idea, Hugh. We'll do it. I'd like to give Donald achance. He hasn't had any show yet to hunt, and I expect that's what hecame out here for."
"Is it?" inquired Hugh. "I haven't seen him carry a rifle, and I didn'tknow what he was out here for."
"Well," Jack admitted, "I don't know either; it's just my guess thatmaybe he came out to have a hunt."
"Then take him along. You're not needed here, and I certainly wouldlike to have some wild meat hung up in camp."
Jack asked Donald if he wanted to go and see whether they could killan antelope with their pistols, and there was no doubt about Donald'sreadiness; so it was not long before the two young fellows, riding outwell to one side of the little herd, galloped off up the valley and,waving to Rube as they passed, were soon out of sight behind a point ofthe hills.
When they were well beyond sight or sound of the herd, Jack drew in hishorse and, turning toward the edge of the valley, repeated to Donaldwhat Hugh had said.
"What we want to do," Jack went on, "is to keep as close as we can tothe edge of the valley and watch the ground ahead for antelope. Alongtoward the middle of the morning they're likely to get up pretty highand to lie down where they can have a good look over the open land. Ifwe can see one lying down, or can see one working toward a place whereit looks as if he might lie down, we may be able to get right close tohim. Now, I've used a pistol mighty little, and I don't feel at allsure that I can hit anything with it. Have you ever used a pistol much?"
"In past years in England, and in New York, I have done some shootingwith a pistol at a target, but of course I have never shot at game;and I fancy that to shoot at game is very different from shooting at atarget, in a quiet place with all the lights arranged just so."
"Yes," laughed Jack, "I should think it would be; but if you know howto shoot a pistol, you'll have to do your best to kill the game. I tellyou, if we come in to-night without anything, I shall lay it up againstyou."
"I'll do what I can," Donald promised, "if you will take me up closeenough to get a fair shot. You see in the shooting-galleries thedistances are short, scarcely ever over twenty yards; and what is more,the people there shoot with special pistols, and often with specialammunition. So if I flunk on killing game, you can see I will haveplenty of excuses. Besides that, I don't know anything about thispistol--it's a new one I've just bought, and I can't tell anythingabout how it's going to shoot."
The hills which bordered the valley on either side were low, but rough,rocky ledges often thrust themselves out to the valley's edge, and fromthese ledges great pink or reddish rocks, occasionally worn into queershapes, had fallen. Sometimes around such a great rock was a littletangle of underbrush--cherry, currant and raspberries--while sometimesthere was no brush and the yellow grass grew close about the rocks. Itwas up here on the higher land that Jack hoped to find antelope lyingdown, and, under cover of rocks and brush and the inequalities of theground, to be able to get close enough to kill one with a pistol.
As they rode on, it became clear that Hugh had sent them to a goodhunting place for antelope. Groups of these animals, or sometimes oldbucks feeding singly, could be seen every few hundred yards for a longdistance ahead. Some of the bucks seemed to carry extraordinarily largehorns, which would make fine trophies to hang on the wall, and bothJack and Donald regretted that they did not have their rifles.
Donald, whose experience in hunting was much less than Jack's, wasanxious to try to approach the first bunch of antelope they saw; butJack pointed out to him that this could not be done, because therewas little or no cover. He explained further that if they started theantelope running along this valley, they would put every animal thereon the alert, and their hunting later in the day would be just so muchthe more difficult.
"If we ride along close to the rocks here," he said, "the antelopewill pay little attention to us. Some of them will stand and look, andperhaps walk off a little way, but when they see us go on about ourbusiness they will begin to feed again. Along toward the middle of theday, if we keep our eyes well open, we are pretty sure to find some ofthese big bucks lying down close to the hills, and then we'll give youa chance to see what you can do with your six-shooter."
"All right," agreed Donald; "all right; you're the hunter, and I amperfectly willing to follow along behind and do what you tell me to."
"Oh, it's not that. But I've had more experience than you, and I knowbetter than you what animals will do under certain circumstances. Why,"Jack laughed, "don't I remember the first antelope I ever killed! Howcrazy I was to get up to it, and how I fell down two or three times onthe way to the top of the hill, and how I finally scared the antelopeout of the country! I believe that was one of the best lessons inhunting I ever learned. I made such a complete fool of myself, that Ieven saw it myself, and it humbled me and made me ask Hugh to put me onthe right road, and to keep me traveling there."
Donald was interested in all hunting matters, and he was anxious tohave Jack tell him the whole story of that hunt in detail. Somewhatreluctantly, Jack told him something of his adventures during his firstvisit to his uncle's ranch, when he was known as "Jack, the YoungRanchman."
As the boys rode up the valley, new vistas of its yellow surface andof the side ravines that came into it were constantly opening up, anddistant animals were often seen which Donald could not always identify,and which he took for deer, or elk, or even cattle. Jack assured him,however, that they were all antelope.
"How do you know?" Donald asked. "Now there's a beast far off thatlooks black, and looks as if it had big horns. How do you know thatthat's an antelope?"
"I can't tell you how I know, but I do
know that it's an antelope. Yousay it looks black; well, so it does, but on the other hand, look wherethe sun is, and you'll see that the reason it looks black is becausethe part of it that we see is mostly in the shadow, while everythingaround about is in that bright sunlight. You say it looks as if it hadbig horns, and I'll acknowledge that it does--but look at it now. Canyou see its horns?"
"No," said Donald; "it seems to have lost its horns."
"It has to our eyes," explained Jack, "because it has turned its head,and we don't see the horns from the point of view that we did before.It would be hard for me to say positively that any of those thingswere not elk or cattle, but I'm dead sure that they are all antelope,because at this time of the day there would not be any elk in thisplace; that's one thing; another thing is, if they were cattle theywould look different. They would be squarer, broader, heavier. Hold onthere! Bend down slow, and slip off your horse!"
In a moment the boys were on the ground.
"Did you see him?" Jack whispered.
"No," answered Donald; "I didn't see anything."
"Why, there's a big buck antelope lying there, not seventy-five yardsaway, and he didn't see us either. I believe we can crawl up closeenough to get a shot. Look here, you said just now that you didn'tknow your pistol, and didn't know how you could shoot with it. Do youwant to take mine? I can tell you how it shoots, but I don't know thatthat'll do much good. If you can get near enough to the buck and canfind a place to rest the pistol, you had better shoot at him from arest."
"Well, how are we going to get near him?" asked Donald. "I don't knowwhere he is. You will have to crawl up to him, and when you get to theright place, call me up and I'll shoot."
"I think we can get up to him all right," said Jack. "He's lying up ona little bench, and I believe we can crawl along under the bank rightclose to him. The only danger is that he'll see you when you rise toshoot; and I suppose if you have to shoot at him on the run, you'llmiss him."
"I'm sure I shall; but let's try, anyhow."
They threw down the reins of their horses, and turning toward thevalley crept very carefully down into a little sag. Jack pointed aheadto where a great rock showed sixty or seventy yards away.
"He's lying right at the foot of that rock; between us and it. Now,we'll have to crawl along this low place, sticking as flat to theground as we know how, and then when we get within thirty or fortyyards, you lift up your head and find him and kill him, if you can. Ifyou miss him, I may take a pop at him; but I'm certain I shan't hit himwhen he's running. But, say," he cautioned in a whisper, "don't youtake your pistol out of your holster until you get ready to shoot, andI won't take mine out either. I'm afraid that if we have them in ourhands we might kill each other instead of the antelope."
"All right," agreed Donald.
Jack threw off his hat and Donald did the same, and the boys creptalong very cautiously and slowly. As they advanced, the top of the rockseemed to come nearer and nearer, and at length they were quite closeto it. Presently Jack stopped, looked back and motioned with his handfor Donald to creep up beside him.
"Now you go up very slowly on your knees," he whispered, "and try tofind him. Remember that the first thing you will see is his black hornssticking up. If you see them close together, his head will be turnedout toward the valley; if you see them wide spread he'll be lookingstraight in our direction. Wait, if you can, until he looks out towardthe valley, and then rise and shoot. You'll have to shoot prettyquickly, for he's almost certain to see us. Raise your head veryslowly."
Donald gathered his legs under him and very slowly rose to his knees,at the same time feeling for his six-shooter. Gradually as his headrose higher and higher, his hand went around to his hip; but when hewas standing on his knees it was evident that he saw nothing. He lookedat Jack, who motioned with his hand toward the rock, and Donald creptforward a little way up the bank. This time when he raised his head, hesaw the animal. He drew his pistol and noiselessly cocked it, waited amoment and then, raising his head and hand slowly, he fired.
Jack was on his knees behind Donald and had his pistol ready, butnothing stirred.
"You must have got him!" Jack cried.
The boys quickly jumped to their feet and climbed up the bank, andthere was the antelope, his head stretched out before him.
"Let's get a knife into him!" exclaimed Jack. "He may be only creased."
A few steps brought the boys to him, and taking hold of the antelope'shorn Jack thrust in his knife at the point of the breast. Then hesaw that the ball had entered just below the head and had broken theantelope's neck.
"By Jove!" he cried, "that was a good shot, and a quick shot! If thatwasn't an accident, it was certainly a way up shot. I'd give a gooddeal to be able to shoot a pistol like that three times out of five."
"It was a lucky shot, sure enough," laughed Donald. "I can't do thatsort of thing three times out of five, nor three times out of ten. Iwish I could."
"Well, we'll have to have some pistol practise when we get back to theranch, for if you can do this thing often, I'll want you to give mesome lessons."
The boys dressed the antelope, which was a fine old buck with a pair oflong, spreading horns.
"This will tickle Hugh," said Jack, "for it's just what he asked for--agood piece of wild meat."
They left the antelope where it lay, and riding out a short distancefrom the hills so that they could see the whole valley, they took thesaddles and bridles from their horses and let them feed while they satthere and talked until the slow traveling herd had come almost to wherethey were. Then they saddled up again, went back to the antelope, andputting it on Donald's horse rode down and joined the others.
Jack the Young Cowboy: An Eastern Boy's Experiance on a Western Round-up Page 24