his time I had kept the eend o' the rope
in my hand, because I had that same day lost my picket pin; an' thinkin'
as I wan't agoin' to sleep, I mout as well hold on to it.

"By 'm by, however, I begun to feel drowsy. The fire 'atween my legs
promised to keep me from freezin', an' I thort I mout as well take a
nap. So I tied the lariat round my ankles, sunk my head atween my
knees, an' in the twinklin' o' a goat's tail I wur sound. I jest
noticed as I wur goin' off, that the mustang wur out some yards,
nibbling away at the dry grass o' the parairy.

"I guess I must a slep about an hour, or tharabouts--I won't be sartint
how long. I only know that I didn't wake o' my own accord. I wur
awoke; an' when I did awoke, I still thort I wur a-dreamin'. It would a
been a rough dream; but unfort'nately for me, it wan't a dream, but a
jenwine reality.

"At fust, I cudn't make out what wur the matter wi' me, no how; an' then
I thort I wur in the hands o' the Injuns, who were draggin' me over the
parairy; an' sure enough I wur a draggin' that a way, though not by
Injuns. Once or twice I lay still for jest a second or two, an' then
away I went agin, trailin' and bumpin' over the ground, as if I had been
tied to the tail o' a gallopin' hoss. All the while there wur a yellin'
in my ears as if all the cats an' dogs of creation were arter me.

"Wal, it wur some time afore I compre'nded what all this rough usage
meant. I did at last. The pull upon my ankles gave me the idea. It
wur the lariat that wur round them. My mustang had stampedoed, and wur
draggin' me at full gallop acrosst the parairy!

"The barkin', an' howlin', an' yelpin' I heerd, wur a pack o'
parairy-wolves. Half-famished, they had attacked the mustang, and
started him.

"All this kim into my mind at once. You'll say it wur easy to lay hold
on the rope, an' stop the hoss. So it mout appear; but I kin tell you
that it ain't so easy a thing. It wan't so to me. My ankles wur in a
noose, an' wur drawed clost together. Of coorse, while I wur movin'
along, I couldn't get to my feet; an' whenever the mustang kim to a
halt, an' I had half gathered myself, afore I laid reach the rope, away
went the critter agin, flingin' me to the ground at full length.
Another thing hindered me. Afore goin' to sleep, I had put my blanket
on Mexikin-fashion--that is, wi' my head through a slit in the centre--
an' as the drag begun, the blanket flopped about my face, an'
half-s