by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
THE BUFFALOES AT LAST.
The long looked for day at length arrived when the game were to be metwith, and I had myself the "distinguished honour" of being the first notonly to see the great buffalo, but to throw a couple of them "in theirtracks." This incident, however, was not without an "adventure," andone that was neither very pleasant nor without peril. During severallate days of our journey we had been in the habit of straggling a gooddeal in search of game--deer if we could find it, but more especially inhopes of falling in with the buffalo. Sometimes we went in twos orthrees, but as often one of the party rode off alone to hunt whereverhis inclination guided him. Sometimes these solitary expeditions tookplace while the party was on the march, but oftener during the hoursafter we had pitched our night-camp.
One evening, after we had camped as usual, and my brave horse had eatenhis "bite" of corn, I leaped into the saddle and rode off in hopes offinding something fresh for supper. The prairie where we had halted wasa "rolling" one, and as the camp had been fixed on a small stream,between two great swells, it was not visible at any great distance. Assoon, therefore, as I had crossed one of the ridges, I was out of sightof my companions. Trusting to the sky for my direction, I continued on.
After riding about a mile, I came upon buffalo "sign," consisting ofseveral circular holes in the ground, five or six feet in diameter,known as buffalo wallows I saw at a glance that the sign was fresh.There were several wallows; and I could tell by the tracks, in the dusk,there had been bulls in that quarter. So I continued on in hopes ofgetting a sight of the animals that had been wallowing.
Shortly after, I came to a place where the ground was ploughed up, as ifa drove of hogs had been rooting it. Here there had been a terriblefight among the bulls--it was the rutting season, when such conflictsoccur. This augured well. Perhaps they are still in the neighbourhood,reasoned I, as I gave the spur to my horse, and galloped forward withmore spirit.
I had ridden full five miles from camp, when my attention was attractedby an odd noise ahead of me. There was a ridge in front that preventedme from seeing what produced the noise; but I knew what it was--it wasthe bellowing of a buffalo-bull.
At intervals, there were quick shocks, as of two hard substances comingin violent contact with each other.
I mounted the ridge with caution, and looked over its crest. There wasa valley beyond; a cloud of dust was rising out of its bottom, and inthe midst of this I could distinguish two huge forms--dark and hirsute.
I saw at once that they were a pair of buffalo-bulls engaged in a fiercefight. They were alone; there were no others in sight, either in thevalley or on the prairie beyond.
I did not halt longer than to see that the cap was on my rifle, and tocock the piece. Occupied as the animals were, I did not imagine theywould heed me: or, if they should attempt flight, I knew I could easilyovertake one or other; so, without farther hesitation or precaution, Irode towards them.
Contrary to my expectation, they both "winded" me, and started off. Thewind was blowing freshly towards them, and the sun had thrown my shadowbetween them, so as to draw their attention.
They did not run, however, as if badly scared; on the contrary, theywent off, apparently indignant at being disturbed in their fight; andevery now and then both came round with short turnings, snorted, andstruck the prairie with their hoofs in a violent and angry manner.
Once or twice, I fancied they were going to charge upon me; and had Ibeen otherwise than well mounted, I should have been very chary ofrisking such an encounter. A more formidable pair of antagonists, asfar as appearance went, could not have been well conceived. Their hugesize, their shaggy fronts, and fierce glaring eyeballs, gave them a wildand malicious seeming, which was heightened by their bellowing, and thethreatening attitudes in which they continually placed themselves.
Feeling quite safe in my saddle, I galloped up to the nearest, and sentmy bullet into his ribs. It did the work. He fell to his knees--roseagain--spread out his legs, as if to prevent a second fall--rocked fromside to side like a cradle--again came to his knees; and after remainingin this position for some minutes, with the blood running from hisnostrils, rolled quietly over on his shoulder, and lay dead.
I had watched these manoeuvres with interest, and permitted the secondbull to make his escape; a side-glance had shown me the latterdisappearing over the crest of the swell.
I did not care to follow him, as my horse was somewhat jaded, and I knewit would cost me a sharp gallop to come up with him again; so I thoughtno more of him at that time, but alighted, and prepared to deal with theone already slain.
There stood a solitary tree near the spot--it was a stunted cotton-wood.There were others upon the prairie, but they were distant; this one wasnot twenty yards from the carcass. I led my horse up to it, and takingthe trail-rope from the horn of the saddle, made one end fast to thebit-ring, and the other to the tree. I then went back, drew my knife,and proceeded to cut up the buffalo.
I had hardly whetted my blade, when a noise from behind caused me toleap to an upright attitude, and look round; at the first glance, Icomprehended the noise. A huge dark object was passing the crest of theridge, and rushing down the hill towards the spot where I stood. It wasthe buffalo-bull, the same that had just left me.
The sight, at first thought, rather pleased me than otherwise. AlthoughI did not want any more meat, I should have the triumph of carrying twotongues instead of one to the camp. I therefore hurriedly sheathed myknife, and laid hold of my rifle, which, according to custom, I hadtaken the precaution to re-load.
I hesitated a moment whether to run to my horse and mount him, or tofire from where I stood. That question, however, was settled by thebuffalo. The tree and the horse were to one side of the direction inwhich he was running, but being attracted by the loud snorting of thehorse, which had begun to pitch and plunge violently, and deeming itperhaps a challenge, the buffalo suddenly swerved from his course, andran full tilt upon the horse. The latter shot out instantly to the fulllength of the trail-rope--a heavy "pluck" sounded in my ears, and thenext instant I saw my horse part from the tree, and scour off over theprairie, as if there had been a thistle under his tail. I had knottedthe rope negligently upon the bit-ring, and the knot had "come undone."
I was chagrined, but not alarmed as yet. My horse would no doubt followback his own trail, and at the worst I should only have to walk to thecamp. I should have the satisfaction of punishing the buffalo for thetrick he had served me; and with this design I turned towards him.
I saw that he had not followed the horse, but was again heading himselfin my direction.
Now, for the first time, it occurred to me that I was in something of ascrape. The bull was coming furiously on. Should my shot miss, or evenshould it only wound him, how was I to escape? I knew that he couldovertake me in a three minutes' stretch; I knew that well.
I had not much time for reflection--not a moment, in fact: theinfuriated animal was within ten paces of me. I raised my rifle, aimedat his fore-shoulder, and fired.
I saw that I had hit him; but, to my dismay, he neither fell norstumbled, but continued to charge forward more furiously than ever.
To re-load was impossible. My pistols had gone off with my horse andholsters. Even to reach the tree was impossible; the bull was betweenit and me.
To make off in the opposite direction was the only thing that held outthe prospect of five minutes' safety; I turned and ran.
I can run as fast as most men, and upon that occasion I did my best. Itwould have put "Gildersleeve" into a white sweat to have distanced me;but I had not been two minutes at it, when I felt conscious that thebuffalo gained upon me, and was almost treading upon my heels! I knewit only by my ears--I dared not spare time to look back.
At this moment, an object appeared before me, that promised, one way oranother, to interrupt the chase; it was a ditch or gully, thatintersected my path at right angles. It was severa
l feet in depth, dryat the bottom, and with perpendicular sides.
I was almost upon its edge before I noticed it, but the moment it cameunder my eye, I saw that it offered the means of a temporary safety atleast. If I could only leap this gully, I felt satisfied that thebuffalo could not.
It was a sharp leap--at least, seventeen feet from cheek to cheek; but Ihad done more than that in my time; and, without halting in my gait, Iran forward to the edge, and sprang over.
I alighted cleverly upon the opposite bank, where I stopped, and turnedround to watch my pursuer.
I now ascertained how near my end I had been: the bull was already up tothe very edge of the gully. Had I not made my leap at the instant Idid, I should have been by that time dancing upon his horns. He himselfhad balked at the leap; the deep chasm-like cleft had cowed him. He sawthat he could not clear it; and now stood upon the opposite bank withhead lowered, and spread nostrils, his tail lashing his brown flanks,while his glaring black eyes expressed the full measure of his baffledrage.
I remarked that my shot had taken effect in his shoulder, as the bloodtrickled from his long hair.
I had almost begun to congratulate myself on having escaped, when ahurried glance to the right, and another to the left, cut short myhappiness. I saw that on both sides, at a distance of less than fiftypaces, the gully shallowed out into the plain, where it ended; at eitherend it was, of course, passable.
The bull observed this almost at the same time as myself; and, suddenlyturning away from the brink, he ran along the edge of the chasm,evidently with the intention of turning it.
In less than a minute's time we were once more on the same side, and mysituation appeared as terrible as ever; but, stepping back for a shortrun, I re-leaped the chasm, and again we stood on opposite sides.
During all these manoeuvres I had held on to my rifle; and, seeing nowthat I might have time to load it, I commenced feeling for mypowder-horn. To my astonishment, I could not lay my hands upon it: Ilooked down to my breast for the sling--it was not there; belt andbullet-pouch too--all were gone! I remembered lifting them over myhead, when I set about cutting the dead bull. They were lying by thecarcass.
This discovery was a new source of chagrin; but for my negligence, Icould now have mastered my antagonist.
To reach the ammunition would be impossible; I should be overtakenbefore I had got half-way to it.
I was not allowed much time to indulge in my regrets; the bull had againturned the ditch, and was once more upon the same side with me, and Iwas compelled to take another leap.
I really do not remember how often I sprang backwards and forwardsacross that chasm; I should think a dozen times at least, and I becamewearied with the exercise. The leap was just as much as I could do atmy best; and as I was growing weaker at each fresh spring, I becamesatisfied that I should soon leap short, and crush myself against thesteep rocky sides of the chasm.
Should I fall to the bottom, my pursuer could easily reach me byentering at either end, and I began to dread such a finale. Thevengeful brute showed no symptoms of retiring; on the contrary, thenumerous disappointments seemed only to render him more determined inhis resentment.
An idea now suggested itself to my mind, I had looked all round to seeif there might not be something that offered a better security. Therewere trees, but they were too distant: the only one near was that towhich my horse had been tied. It was a small one, and, like all of itsspecies (it was a cotton-wood), there were no branches near the root.
I knew that I could clamber up it by embracing the trunk, which was notover ten inches in diameter. Could I only succeed in reaching it, itwould at least shelter me better than the ditch, of which I was gettingheartily tired.
But the question was, could I reach it before the bull?
It was about three hundred yards off. By proper manoeuvring, I shouldhave a start of fifty. Even, with that, it would be a "close shave;"and it proved so.
I arrived at the tree, however, and sprang up it like a mountebank; butthe hot breath of the buffalo steamed after me as I ascended, and theconcussion of his heavy skull against the trunk almost shook me backupon his horns.
After a severe effort of climbing, I succeeded in lodging myself amongthe branches.
I was now safe from all immediate danger, but how was the affair to end?
I knew from the experience of others, that my enemy might stay for hoursby the tree--perhaps for days!
Hours would be enough. I could not stand it long. I already hungered,but a worse appetite began to torture me: thirst. The hot sun, thedust, the violent exercise of the past hour, all contributed to make methirsty. Even then, I would have risked life for a draught of water.What would it come to should I not be relieved?
I had but one hope--that my companions would come to my relief; but Iknew that that would not be before morning. They would miss me ofcourse. Perhaps my horse would return to camp--that would send them outin search for me--but not before night had fallen. In the darkness theycould not follow my trail. Could they do so in the light?
This last question, which I had put to myself, startled me. I was justin a condition to look upon the dark side of everything, and it nowoccurred to me that they might not be able to find me!
There were many possibilities that they might not. There were numeroushorse-trails on the prairie, where Indians had passed. I saw this whentracking the buffalo. Besides, it might rain in the night, andobliterate them all--my own with the rest. They were not likely to findme by chance. A circle of ten miles diameter is a large tract. It wasa rolling prairie, as already stated, full of inequalities, ridges withvalleys between. The tree upon which I was perched stood in the bottomof one of the valleys--it could not be seen from any point over threehundred yards distant. Those searching for me might pass within hailwithout perceiving either the tree or the valley.
I remained for a long time busied with such gloomy thoughts andforebodings. Night was coming on, but the fierce and obstinate bruteshowed no disposition to raise the siege. He remained watchful as ever,walking round and round at intervals, lashing his tail, and utteringthat snorting sound so well-known, to the prairie-hunter, and which somuch resembles the grunting of hogs when suddenly alarmed. Occasionallyhe would bellow loudly like the common bull.
While watching his various manoeuvres, an object on the ground drew myattention--it was the trail-rope left by my horse. One end of it wasfastened round the trunk by a firm knot--the other lay far out upon theprairie, where it had been dragged. My attention had been drawn to itby the bull himself, that in crossing over it had noticed it, and nowand then pawed it with his hoofs.
All at once a bright idea flashed upon me--a sudden hope arose withinme--a plan of escape presented itself, so feasible and possible, that Ileaped in my perch as the thought struck me.
The first step was to get possession of the rope. This was not such aneasy matter. The rope was fastened around the tree, but the knot hadslipped down the trunk and lay upon the ground. I dared not descend forit.
Necessity soon suggested a plan.
My "picker"--a piece of straight wire with a ring-end--hung from one ofmy breast buttons. This I took hold of, and bent into the shape of agrappling-hook. I had no cord, but my knife was still sate in itssheath; and, drawing this, I cut several thongs from the skirt or mybuckskin shirt, and knotted them together until they formed a stringlong enough to reach the ground. To one end I attached the picker; andthen letting it down, I commenced angling for the rope.
After a few transverse drags, the hook caught the latter, and I pulledit up into the tree, taking the whole of it in until I held the looseend in my hands. The other end I permitted to remain as it was; I sawit was securely knotted around the trunk, and that was just what Iwanted.
It was my intention to lasso the bull; and for this purpose I proceededto make a running-noose on the end of the trail-rope.
This I executed with great care, and with all my skill. I coul
d dependupon the rope; it was raw hide, and a hotter was never twisted; but Iknew that if anything should chance to slip at a critical moment, itmight cost me my life. With this knowledge, therefore, I spliced theeye, and made the knot as firm as possible, and then the loop was reevedthrough, and the thing was ready.
I could throw a lasso tolerably well, but the branches prevented me fromwinding it around my head. It was necessary, therefore, to get theanimal in a certain position under the tree, which, by shouts and otherdemonstrations, I at length succeeded in effecting.
The moment of success had arrived. He stood almost directly below me.The noose was shot down--I had the gratification to see it settle aroundhis neck; and with a quick jerk I tightened it. The rope ranbeautifully through the eye, until both eye and loop were buried beneaththe shaggy hair of the animal's neck. It embraced his throat in theright place, and I felt confident it would hold.
The moment the bull felt the jerk upon his throat, he dashed madly outfrom the tree, and then commenced running in circles around it.
Contrary to my intention, the rope had slipped from my hands at thefirst drag upon it. My position was rather an unsteady one, for thebranches were slender, and I could not manage matters as well as I couldhave wished.
But I now felt confident enough. The bull was tethered, and it onlyremained for me to get out beyond the length of his tether, and take tomy heels.
My gun lay on one side, near the tree, where I had dropped it in myrace: this, of course, I meant to carry off with me.
I waited then until the animal, in one of his circles, had got round tothe opposite side, and slipping silently down the trunk, I sprang out,picked up my rifle, and ran.
I knew the trail-rope to be about twenty yards in length, but I ran ahundred, at least, before making halt. I had even thoughts ofcontinuing on, as I still could not help some misgivings about the rope.
The bull was one of the largest and strongest. The rope might break,the knot upon the tree might give way, or the noose might slip over hishead.
Curiosity, however, or rather a desire to be assured of my safety,prompted me to look around, when, to my joy, I beheld the huge monsterstretched upon the plain. I could see the rope as taut as a bow-string;and the tongue protruding from the animal's jaws showed me that he wasstrangling himself as fast as I could desire.
At the sight, the idea of buffalo-tongue for supper returned in all itsvigour; and it now occurred to me that I should eat that very tongue,and no other.
I immediately turned in my tracks, ran towards my powder and balls--which, in my eagerness to escape, I had forgotten all about--seized thehorn and pouch, poured in a charge, rammed down a bullet, and thenstealing nimbly up behind the still struggling bull, I placed the muzzlewithin three feet of his brisket, and fired. He gave a death-kick ortwo, and then lay quiet: it was all over with him.
I had the tongue from between his teeth in a twinkling; and proceedingto the other bull, I finished the operations I had commenced upon him.I was too tired to think of carrying a very heavy load; so I contentedmyself with the tongues, and slinging these over the barrel of my rifle,I shouldered it, and set out to grope my way back to camp.
The moon had risen, and I had no difficulty in following my own trail;but before I had got half-way, I met several of my companions shouting,and at intervals firing off their guns.
My horse had got back a little before sunset. His appearance had, ofcourse, produced alarm, and the camp had turned out in search of me.
Several who had a relish for fresh meat galloped back to strip the twobulls of the remaining tit-bits; but before midnight all had returned;and to the accompaniment of the hump-ribs spurting in the cheerfulblaze, I recounted the details of my adventure.