OMETIMES, instead of taking his rifle and accompanying the other hunters, Frank would borrow a shot-gun, and go out on foot and return with a good bag of prairie-fowl, birds resembling grouse. Occasionally, in the canyons, or wooded valleys, far away from the track, the hunters came across the trail of wild turkeys; then two of them would camp out for the night, and search under the trees until they saw the birds perched on the boughs above them, and would bring into camp in the morning half a dozen dangling from each of their saddles. Frequently, in their rides, they came across skunks, pretty black and white little animals. Frank was about to shoot the first he saw, but Peter, who was with him, shouted to him not to fire.
"It's a skunk," he said; "it ain't no use wasting your powder on that varmin. Why, if you were to kill him, and went to take it up, you wouldn't be fit to go into camp for a week; you would stink that bad no one couldn't come near you. They are wuss than pizen, skunks. Why, I have seen dogs sit up and howl with disgust after interfering with one of them. I don't say[174] as they can't be eaten, cos the Indians eat them; and, for the matter of that, I have ate them myself. But they have to be killed plump dead, and then the stink-bag has to be cut out from them directly; but if you ain't hard pressed for food, I advise you to let skunks alone."
The first time that they came across a large herd of buffalo was a day Frank long remembered. He was out with the four hunters; they had just scampered to the top of one of the swells, when they simultaneously reined in their horses, for the valley—half a mile wide—in front of them was filled with a dark mass of moving animals, extending back for two or three miles.
"There, Frank," Abe said, "there is meat for you—enough for an army for months."
Frank was too surprised to speak for a time; the number seemed countless.
"What a wonderful sight!" he exclaimed at last.
"Ay, that it is, lad, to one who has never seen it afore; and to think that thar are scores of herds like that out on these plains. It's one of the mightiest sights of natur. But it's nothing to see 'em now, going along quiet, to what it is to see 'em when they are on the stampede, when the ground shakes with thar tread, and the air seems in a quiver with thar bellowing; thar don't seem nothing as could stop 'em, and thar ain't. If it's a river, they pours into it; if it's a bluff, they goes over it, and tens of thousands of them gets killed. The Injins is mighty wasteful of thar flesh, but I doubt whether all the Injins in the continent kills as many as kills themselves in them wild stampedes. We will just wait where we are until they are past, and then we will drop down on 'em and cut three or four of 'em off.[175] We will take one apiece; that will give us as much flesh as the waggons can load up, and I don't hold to taking life unless the meat's wanted. Now, lad, all that you have got to do is, when you ride down just single out your beast, ride alongside of him, and empty your Colt behind his shoulder. Keep rather behind him, and have your horse well in hand to wheel if he twists round and charges you."
A few minutes later the signal was given, and the five horsemen dashed down the slope. A deep bellow proclaimed that the herd had become aware of the presence of their enemies. The leisurely pace at which they were proceeding changed instantly into a gallop on the part of those conscious of danger. The impulse was communicated to those in front, and in a few seconds the whole herd was tearing along like a mighty torrent.
But they were too late to escape the hunters, who came down upon their rear, and each proceeded to single out an animal. Following Abe's instructions, Frank ranged up alongside a fine bull, and opened fire with his revolver at a point just behind the shoulder. At the third shot the great beast swerved sharply round, and had not Frank been on the alert he would have lost his seat, so sharply did the horse wheel to avoid the animal's horns. The buffalo at once resumed its course behind the herd; but Frank was soon alongside again, and as he fired the last shot of his revolver had the satisfaction of seeing the great beast stagger and then fall prostrate. He at once reined in his horse and looked round. His companions were all some distance in the rear, having brought down their game with less expenditure of lead, knowing exactly the right spot where a wound would be fatal.[176]
"That's a fair lot of meat," Abe said, as they gathered into a group. "That will last 'em a long time. Now, if we had been Injins, we should have gone on shooting and shooting till we had killed a score or more, and then taken just the best bits, and left the rest for the coyotes; but I call it downright wicked to waste meat. Kill what you want—that's natural and right; but I am agin drawing a bead on an animal, whether he be buffalo or deer, or what-not, onless you want his meat, or onless his hide be of value to you. If men acted on that thar rule there would be game on these plains for any time; it's wilful destruction as is clearing 'em out, not fair hunting.
"Now we will ride off and stop the teams as they come along and bring 'em round here. It won't be so very far out of thar way. We can stop a couple of days to cut up and dry the meat. The rest will do the cattle good, and there's nothing like having a supply of dried meat; I don't say it's as toothsome as fresh, but it ain't ter be despised, and the time may come, in fact it's pretty sure to come, when we shan't be able to do much hunting round the waggons. We are getting nigh the country where we may expect to meet with Injin troubles. It's just as well we met with this herd afore we got thar, for we should have been pretty sure to find a party of them hanging on the rear of the buffalo."
Three hours later the waggons arrived at the spot, the emigrants in high spirits at the news that such an abundant supply of meat had been procured. The hunters skinned and cut up the five buffaloes; the waggons were placed some fifteen yards apart, and several cords stretched tightly between them; upon these was hung the flesh, which was cut in strips some four inches wide and half[177] an inch thick. By the end of the third day the whole of the meat was dried by the united action of the sun and wind. The skins had been pegged out in the sun, and some of the boys, under Abe's instructions, roughly cured them, first scraping them inside, and then rubbing them with fat mixed with salt.
"It's a rough way," Abe said, "and the Injin women would laugh to see it; they just rub and rub at them till they get them as soft and pliable as the leather they make gloves of East. Still, they will keep as they are, and will do to chuck in the bottom of the waggons for the women and children to sit upon; besides, we shall find it cold at night as we get on, and a buffalo-robe ain't to be despised,—even if it ain't dressed to perfection. When they dry and get stiff the boys can take another rub at 'em when we halts; it will give them something to do, and keep them out of mischief."
"Talking of buffalo," Abe began, as the hunters were sitting round the fire on the evening of the hunt, "that reminds me that it wasn't so very far from this har spot that me and Rube was nearly wiped out by the Utes some ten years ago. Rube, he was a young chap then, and had not been long out on the plains. We war hunting with a party of Cheyennes, and had been with them well-nigh all the summer. One day we war in pursuit of buffalo—they were plentiful then; you think they are plentiful now, but you would see ten herds then for every one you see now. But they are going, and I expect in another twenty years that a man might ride across the plains and never catch sight of a hump. If the gold turns out to be as rich as they say, there will be hundreds of thousands of people cross these plains, and, like enough,[178] settlements be formed right across the continent. However, there war plenty of herds ten years ago.
"We had come upon a big herd, and was chasing them. I had singled out an old bull, and had pushed right into the herd after him; Rube, he was pretty close to me. Well, I came up to the bull, and put a rifle-ball between his ribs. The herd had rather separated as we got amongst them, making way for us right and left as we rode after the bull. As he fell we reined in our horses, and looked round. Not a Cheyenne was to be seen: five minutes afore they had been hanging on the herd, sending their arrows in up to the feather among the buffalo; now not a soul was to be seen. You may guess this staggered me and I says to Rube, 'Look out, Rube, there's something up, as sure as fate.'
"Well, I had scarcely spoken afore I saw a big party of Injins come charging down across our rear. 'Utes,' says I, 'by thunder! They are after the Cheyennes! Fling yourself flat on your horse, Rube, and get into the herd.'
"The buffalo war only fifty yards away yet, and yer may be sure we spurred up pretty sharp till we got up to them. I seed at once it was our only chance. Our horses war blowed, for we had had a sharp chase afore we caught the herd, and there was no chance of our getting away from the Utes in the open plains. We soon caught up the herd, and charged in among them. The brutes were packed so close together that they could hardly make room for us; but we managed to wedge ourselves in. Those next to us snuffed and roared, but they war too pressed by those behind to do much; but by shouting and waving our hats we managed to keep a clear space three or four yards on either side of us. All this[179] time we war lying down on our horses' necks, and there war no fear that any one would see us in the midst of that sea of tossing cattle; but I war afraid they would have caught sight of us afore we got among 'em. I cussed myself for having fired that last shot; they must have heard it, and would have known that some of us hadn't seen them coming, and must be somewhere among the herd.
"I raised my head a little at last, and took a look round. Sure enough, there was a dozen Utes coming up behind the herd. I puts spurs again into my horse, and, catching up an old bull in front of me, progged him with my bowie-knife, and Rube did the same to the beast next to him. They gave a roar and plunged on ahead through the mass, and we followed close to their heels. It was tight work, I can tell you, for the buffaloes on both sides war touching one another. We kept going about half a length behind the beasts next to us, so that the horses' shoulders war just behind the shoulders of the buffaloes; as you know, the buffaloes have got no necks to speak of, and so, although they gave savage thrusts with their horns, they couldn't get at the horses. Our beasts were frightened near out of their lives, but they war well broken, and we managed to keep 'em in hand.
"The thing I was most afraid of was that they would be knocked off their legs, and in that case we should be trampled to death in a minute. As I leaned forward I kept one hand fixed on the neck of the buffalo next me, and I shouted to Rube to do the same, so as we could make a shift to jump on to the buffalo's back if our horses fell; but, I tell you, I was beginning to fear that we shouldn't see any way out of it. What with us in[180] the middle, and the Utes yelling behind them, the herd war fairly mad with fright; and there war no saying where they would go to, for, you know, a herd of buffaloes, when fairly stampeded, will go clean over a precipice a hundred yards high, and pile themselves up dead at the foot till there is not one left. It war a bad fix, you bet, for I war sure that the Utes war after us, and not after the buffaloes, for they kept on, though they could soon have killed as many of the herd as they wanted. It was may be four in the afternoon when the chase commenced, and so it went on till it was dark. The buffaloes war going nigh as fast as when we started, but the horses could scarce keep their legs; I was sure they couldn't run much longer, so I says to Rube, 'We must get out of this, or else we shall be done for.'
"So we sets to work a-probing the buffalo with our knives again. They started on ahead as hard as they could, bursting a way through the crowd. We followed close behind them, keeping up the scare until we finds ourselves in front of the herd; then we spurred our horses on, and dashed out in front. Done as the horses were, they knew they had got to go, for, with the herd coming like thunder upon their heels, it was death to stop. We swerved away to the right, but it took us half an hour afore we war clear of the front of the herd. We went a few hundred yards further, and then drew rein.
"Rube's horse fell dead as he stopped, and mine wasn't worth much more. For half an hour we could hear the herd rushing along, and then it had passed. We had got out of our biggest fix, but it warn't a pleasant position.
"There we war out on the plains, with only one horse[181] between us, and he so done up that he couldn't put one foot afore the other.
"Where the Cheyennes war there was no saying; the band might have been wiped out by the Utes, or they might have got away. At any rate there was no counting on them. The Utes who had followed the herd would be sure to be on our trail in the morning; they would follow all night, or as long as the herd ran. When the buffalo war fairly tired out they would lay down, and the Utes would see then as we warn't there. Then they would set out upon the back-trail, skirting along each side of the line trampled by the herd until they came upon our trail; the dead horse was a sign as they could see a mile away, so it was clear that we must foot it as soon as we could. We gave the horse an hour's rest; and it did us as much good as him, for I can tell you we war pretty well used up. We drove him afore us until, after six hours' walking, we came to a stream. We went up this for an hour, then we both filled our hunting-shirts with stones and fastened them on the horse, and then drove him off."
"What did you put the stones on his back for?" Frank asked.
"To make the Utes think as he was carrying double. Each of the loads was about the weight of a man, and the horse was so tired that he staggered as he walked; so as they would see his tracks, and wouldn't see ours, they would naturally come to the conclusion as we war both on his back. It warn't likely as the critter would go far before he laid down, perhaps not more than half a mile; but that would do for us. We went back a few hundred yards in the stream, and then struck off across the prairie,[182] the same side as we had come from, taking care to make as little sign as possible.
"The Utes would be riding along by the side of the stream and looking for a horse's print, and the chances war that they wouldn't see ours. When they came up to the horse and found out the trick, they would gallop back again; at least half of them would go up the stream and half would take the back-track; but, you see, as they went up they would have trampled across our track, and they would find it mighty hard work to pick it up again.
"We footed it all day, and the prospect warn't a pleasant one. The nearest settlement was nigh a thousand miles away, we had no horses, and we daren't fire a gun for fear of bringing Utes down upon us. We had made up our minds to strike for the Cheyennes' country, that being the nearest where we could expect to find friends. For two days we tramped on. The third day we war sitting by the side of a stream, eating a prairie-dog as we had trapped, when Rube stopped eating suddenly, and said, 'Listen!'
"I threw myself down and put my ear to the ground, and, sure enough, could hear the gallop of horses. 'Injins,' says I, and chucks a lot of wet sand and gravel over the fire, which was fortunately a small one. I knew, in course, if they came close that way, as they would see it; but if they passed at some distance they would not notice us. Then Rube and I bounded into the water, and laid down close under a high bank, where the grass grew long, and drooped over to the water so as to cover our heads.
"We heard the redskins coming nearer and nearer, and they stopped at the stream a quarter of a mile or so[183] above us. We listened, I can tell you, for the sound of their going on again; but no such luck, and after a quarter of an hour we knew as they were going to camp there. I felt pretty thankful as it was late in the afternoon, for I guessed, in the first place, as they would light their fire and cook their food, so none of them war likely to be coming down our way until it was after dark.
"We waited and waited, till it got quite dark; then we followed the stream down for another four or five miles, and then took to the plains again. It was another three days afore we fell in with a party of Cheyennes. It seemed as how most of those we had been with had been killed by the Utes; the others had taken the news home, and the whole tribe had been turned out. We war pretty well done up, but the chief dismounted two of his men and put us on their horses, and we set off at once. We knew pretty well the line that the party as was following us had taken, and the next night we saw the fires of their camp, and you bet not one of them went home to tell the tale."
"That was a narrow escape indeed, Abe," Frank said.
"It war all that. It war lucky that it war late afore the hunt began; if it had been early in the day nothing could have saved us—onless, of course, our horses had been fresh, and faster than those of the Utes, and then we should have made straight away instead of getting into the herd."
"They don't seem to go as fast as a horse, Abe. I seemed to keep up quite easily with that bull I shot."
"Yes, for a burst a horse is faster than a buffalo, but when they once gets going on a downright stampede they will tire out any horse, and go well-nigh as fast too. I tell you you have to be pretty spry, even if you are well-mounted,[184] when a downright big herd, well on the stampede, comes on you. It's a terrible sight, and it makes one tingle, I can tell you, especially as the horse is pretty nigh mad with fear."
"It must be as bad as a prairie fire."
"Worse, my lad; ever so much worse. You can see a prairie fire fifty miles away—more nor that at night, ever so much—and you have plenty of time to set the grass afire ahead of you, and clear the ground afore it comes up, though it does travel, when the wind is blowing, much faster than a horse can gallop. I have seen it go thirty miles an hour, the flames just leaping out ahead of it and setting grass alight a hundred yards before the main body of the fire came up. I tell you it is a terrible sight when the grass has just dried, and is breast-high; but, as I say, there ain't no cause to be afraid if you do but keep your head. You just pulls up a band of grass a couple of feet wide, and lights it ahead of you; the wind naturally takes it away from you, and you look sharp with blanket or leggings to beat it down, and prevent it working back agin the wind across the bit of ground you have stripped. As it goes it widens out right and left, and you have soon got a wide strip cleared in front of you. In course you don't go on to it as long as you can help it, not till you are drove by the other fire coming up; that gives it time to cool a bit. If you must go on soon, owing to being pressed, or from the fire you have lit working round agin the wind—as it will do if the grass is very dry—the best plan is to cut up your leggings, or any bit of hide you have got with you, the rawer the better, and wrap them round your horse's feet and legs; but it ain't often necessary to do that, as it don't take long for the ashes to cool enough so as to stand on."[185]
Fortunately a bottom with good grass had been found close at hand to the place where they encamped, and when the caravan proceeded the draft oxen were all the better for their two days' rest.
"We shall have to begin to look out pretty sharp for Injin signs," Abe said, as they started early next morning. "Fresh meat is good, but we can do without it; there's enough pork and jerked meat in the waggons to last pretty nigh across the plains; but we are getting where we may expect Injins in earnest. We might, in course, have met 'em anywhere, but as they know the caravans have all got to come across their ground, it don't stand to reason as they would take the trouble to travel very far east to meet 'em. I don't say as we won't knock down a stag, now and agin, if we comes across 'em, but the less firing the better. We have been hunting up till now, but we must calculate that for the rest of the journey we are going to be hunted; and if we don't want our scalps taken, not to talk of all these women and children, we have got to look out pretty spry. I reckon we can beat them off in anything like a fair fight—that is, provided we have got time to get ready before they are on us, and it depends on us whether we do have time or not."