CHAPTER XI.
A Buffalo Hunt.
The next morning, after breakfast, the boys seated themselves by thefire, and while Frank mended his bridle, which Pete had broken the daybefore, Archie was endeavoring to conjure up some plan for the day'samusement. Even in that country, which abounded with game, the boyswere at a loss how to pass the time, for the grizzlies had interferedwith their arrangements considerably. If they went hunting in themountains, they might come across another bear; and their recentexperience with those animals had shown them that the hunters weresometimes the hunted. They had no desire for further adventures withthe monsters, and they had at last decided that they would take agallop over the prairie, when they were startled by the clatter ofhorses' hoofs in the creek, and old Bob--who, at daylight, hadstarted out on a "prospecting" expedition--galloped into camp,breathless and excited. The boys very naturally cast their eyes towardthe prairie, to see if he were not followed by a grizzly; but thesight of one of those animals never affected the old trapper in thatmanner. He had seen what he considered larger and more profitablegame.
"Dick," he exclaimed, drawing up his horse with a sudden jerk--"Dick,have some buffaler hump for dinner?"
"Sartin," replied the trapper, hastily rising to his feet, andthrowing away his pipe. "In course. Saddle up to onct, youngsters.We'll have some game now as is game."
The announcement that there is a herd of buffaloes in the vicinity,always creates an uproar in a hunter's camp, and there was noexception to the rule this time. The boys had never seen the trapperso eager; and even Mr. Winters, generally so cool and deliberate, wasnot so long in saddling his horse as usual. This, of course, had aneffect upon the boys; but, as is always the case, their hurryoccasioned them a considerable loss of time. Archie could not find hisbridle, and Frank, in his eagerness, broke his saddle-girth; and, toincrease their excitement, the others, as soon as they had saddledtheir horses (Dick rode one of the mules) and secured their weapons,rode off, leaving them alone. Archie, after a lengthy search, foundhis bridle in the wagon, and Frank at last succeeded in mending hissaddle-girth with a piece of buckskin. The boys' rifles stood togetheragainst a tree, close by, with all the accouterments hanging to themuzzles. Frank's being a common "patch" rifle, he, of course, had apowder-horn and bullet pouch, while Archie carried the ammunition forhis breech-loader in a haversack. The latter was ready first, andhastily seizing the gun that came first to his hand, secured Frank'sinstead of his own, and, putting his horse into a gallop, rode downthe bed of the creek, throwing the powder-horn and bullet pouch overhis shoulder as he went. Frank was ready a moment afterward, andfinding his own rifle gone, he, of course, took Archie's. Although hethought nothing of it at the time, he afterward looked upon it as alucky circumstance. In addition to their rifles, the boys each had tworevolvers, which they carried in their holsters. Frank overtook thehunters at the edge of the prairie, where they had stopped to waitfor him, and to hold a consultation. The high swells that rose inevery direction shut them out from the view of the game, but old Bobknew exactly where to go to find it. As they went along, at an easygallop, Dick rode up beside the boys, and, addressing himself toFrank, said:
"Now, youngster, this'll be new bisness to you, so don't be keerless.You must 'member that your hoss ar' as green as a punkin in buffalerhuntin', an', if you let him get stampeded, he'll take you cl'ar toMexico afore he stops."
"Stampeded!" repeated Frank. "Does a horse ever get stampeded withbuffaloes?"
"Sartin he do," answered the trapper, with a laugh; "an' if you everget teetotally surrounded by a thousand bellerin', pitchin' buffalers,you'll say it's the wust scrape you ever war in. So don't go too clostto 'em. If your hoss gets frightened, stop him to onct, and quitfollerin' 'em."
Dick was then proceeding to instruct the boys in the manner of huntingthe buffaloes, when old Bob, who had been leading the way, suddenlycame to a halt.
"They're jest behind that swell," said he. "Don't you hear 'em? Now,we must separate." Then, in hurried whispers, he pointed out thestation he wished each to occupy, and, after Dick had again cautionedFrank to keep his horse completely under his control, the boys rodeaway in different directions.
When Frank reached his station, he stopped his horse, examined hisrifle, opened his holsters, so that he could readily draw hisrevolvers, and waited impatiently for the signal. The hunters werestationed about a quarter of a mile apart. Old Bob was in the centerof the line. After satisfying himself that they were all in theirplaces, he waved his hat--the signal for the advance. They all startedat the same moment, and, before Frank could think twice, his horse hadcarried him to the top of the swell, and he was in full view of thegame. The sight that met his eyes astonished him.
He had often read of the prairie being black with buffaloes, but hehad never seen it before. The herd was an immense one, and stretchedaway in all directions as far as his eye could reach. But he wasallowed no time for admiration, for, the moment the hunters made theirappearance, the buffaloes discovered them, and made off at the top oftheir speed, the noise of their hoofs sounding on the hard prairielike the rolling of thunder. Pete was not afraid of buffaloes, and hesoon carried his master within easy range of the herd, the nearest ofwhich fell at the crack of his rifle. Too impatient to reload his gun,Frank drew one of his revolvers, and, forgetting, in his excitement,all the trapper's advice, spurred after the flying herd; and, so closewas he to them, that he seldom missed his mark. When he had fired allthe charges, he returned his empty weapon to his holster, and, as hedrew the other, he cast his eye in the direction of his companions,and was a good deal surprised to discover that some of the herd hadgot between him and the rest of his party, and were running almostside by side with him. On the outer edge of the herd, he saw hiscousin in company with the trappers. Archie had, doubtless, emptiedall his weapons, for he appeared to be engaged in reloading. Furtherback, he saw Mr. Winters, who had stopped to "settle" a large bull hehad wounded. He also noticed that the mule, on which Dick was mounted,being entirely unaccustomed to such business, and frightened by thedischarges of the fire-arms, and the noise of the rushing herd, wasmaking desperate but unsuccessful attempts to throw his rider. Frank,taking this all in at a glance, then turned his attention to theanimals nearest him, and soon emptied his second revolver.
All this while Pete had been running with the bridle hanging loose onhis neck; now, as Frank gathered up the reins, he noticed, for thefirst time, that he was going at a rate of speed he had never beforeaccomplished. This, however, did not alarm him; but, seeing that hewas leaving his companions behind, he thought he would slacken hispace and wait for them to come up. He drew in the reins, but it had noeffect on the horse, which, looking back over his shoulder, as iffrightened at something that was pursuing him, bounded off faster thanever. Taking a firmer hold of the reins, Frank pulled again with allhis strength, but to no purpose. Had he been at sea, in an open boat,without rudder, sails, or oars, he could not have been more helplessthan he was at that moment. His horse, perfectly unmanageable, wasrunning away with him! In an instant, the thought flashed throughFrank's mind, that he was in the very position the trapper had soemphatically cautioned him to avoid. But still he was not frightened,until he cast his eyes behind him, and, to his utter dismay,discovered that the herd had closed in on all sides of him. Around hishorse was a clear space of perhaps a hundred yards in diameter, whichwas slowly but surely growing smaller, as the frightened animalspressed and crowded against each other. On every side he saw a mass ofhorns, and tails, and shaggy shoulders, which, like a wall, shut himaway from his companions. Away off to the right, he saw the trappers,Archie, and Mr. Winters, no longer pursuing the game, but gazing afterhim, and throwing their arms wildly about. If they shouted, Frank didnot hear what they said, for the noise of that multitude of hoofswould have drowned the roar of Niagara. They could not assist him,neither could he help himself. That very morning the trapper had toldhim of seeing a man trampled to death by a herd of buffaloes, and nowa similar f
ate was in store for himself. The appalling thought seemedto deprive him of the last particle of strength, for he reeled in hissaddle, and only caught the mane of his horse just in time to savehimself from falling to the ground. But, as was always the case withFrank, when placed in situations of extreme danger, this burst ofweakness quickly passed. While he had life, he could not relinquishall hope of being able to bring himself safely out of even this, themost perilous position in which he had ever found himself. He coulddetermine upon no particular plan for escape, so long as he wassurrounded by those frantic buffaloes. The only course he could pursuewas to compel Pete to keep pace with the herd. But this plan did notplace him out of the reach of danger. He knew that buffaloes, whenstampeded, turn aside for nothing. Neither hills nor rivers checktheir mad flight, and any living thing that stands in their way istrampled to death. Even the exhausted members of the herd, unable tokeep pace with the others, are borne down and crushed to a jelly. Theyneither seem to hear or see any thing; all their senses being mergedinto the desire to get as far as possible from the object that hasexcited their alarm; and they seldom stop until completely exhausted.
Frank knew this, and the question that arose in his mind was, "Howlong could his horse stand that rapid gallop?" He appeared to be asthoroughly frightened as the buffaloes, and it was not at all probablehe would show any inclination to stop, so long as he saw that shaggymass behind him, or could hear the noise of their hoofs, which soundedlike the rumbling of an immense cataract. The more he thought of hiscritical situation, the firmer was his belief that there was but oneway open to him, and that was to keep ahead of the animals, which werebehind him. Having determined upon this, he again cast his eyes towardthe place where he had last seen his friends. They were gone, andFrank was alone in the midst of that multitude of frantic buffaloes.
When the trappers had discovered Frank's situation, they knew it wasout of their power to assist him. After following him a shortdistance, in the vain hope of making him hear the words of advice andencouragement which they sent after him with all the strength of theirlungs, they had fallen back out of sight. Dick had advised thiscourse, "Fur," said he, "the longer we foller 'em, the faster they'llrun. They won't stop till they're clean gin out. If the youngsterstays on his hoss, an' keeps ahead of 'em till they're a leetle overtheir fright, he's all right."
Dick, however, did not intend to leave his young companion altogether.At his request, Archie gave up Sleepy Sam to him, and, after assuringthe others, who were in a state of intense excitement and alarm, thathe would certainly find Frank and bring him back safe, he rode off inthe direction the buffaloes had gone, while the rest of the partyreturned to collect their game.
Meanwhile, Pete, rendered frantic by the deafening noise, was carryingFrank over the prairie at a terrific pace. The young hunter's alarmhad somewhat abated, and he appeared as calm as though he was merelytaking a ride for amusement; but his mind was exceedingly busy, and,in a very short space of time, he lived over his whole life. He castfrequent and anxious glances behind him, but could see no change forthe better in his situation. The buffaloes, as far as his eye couldreach, pushed and crowded against each other, apparently as frightenedas ever, but taking no notice whatever of the horseman in their midst.The space around his horse was gradually growing smaller, which madeFrank shudder when he thought what the result would be if they shouldclose in upon him.
One hour passed, and still the frightened herd dashed on, with thefrantic horse and his helpless rider in their midst, without, in theleast, slackening their pace. Pete was evidently in distress. That madgallop was telling on him severely; but, while those buffaloes werebehind him, all attempts to stop him would have been useless. Anotherhour glided by, and, to his joy, Frank discovered that the animalsbehind him were scattering, and that the line of his pursuers wasgrowing thinner. Those in front still ran as fast as ever--no doubt,pushed onward by those behind them, while those in the extreme rearwere evidently getting over their fright. Frank looked again andagain, to satisfy himself that he was not mistaken, and he wasconfident that, if his horse could hold out half an hour longer, thebuffaloes, slowly dividing right and left, would leave a way of escapeopen to him. The minutes seemed lengthened into hours; but hispursuers were now rapidly taking up their places on the flanks of theherd, and, in a short time, not a buffalo was to be seen behind him.
Again Frank pulled the reins, and Pete, almost exhausted, and nolonger hearing that terrific noise behind him, willingly stopped.Frank, filled with gratitude for his escape, threw himself from thesaddle, just as the last of the buffaloes were disappearing over aneighboring swell.
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