s and mules
were picketed at night, on the best pasture available; and before we
retired, all the animals were brought near the wagons, the loose
cattle bunched with them, and guards were placed, to prevent straying
of the stock or surprise by Indians. Later, for awhile, these
precautions were deemed unnecessary, though still later they had to be
resumed. The stock became accustomed to the daily routine, and after
the all-day travel, were quite willing, when they had finished their
evening grazing, to assemble near the camp and lie down for the night,
usually remaining comparatively quiet till morning. As if having some
realization of the lonely nature of the surroundings, the animals were
not disposed to stray off, except on rare occasions; but rather to
keep within sight of the people and the wagons.

There was proof of the theory that in some circumstances domestic
animals acquire some of that feeling that human creatures know, when
far from the habitations of man. There is a peculiar sensation in the
great and boundless contiguity of empty silence which works the senses
up to a feeling that is somewhat alike in man and beast--that there is
most comfort and protection near the center of the settlement or camp.
In this stillness of the night--and night on these plains was often
very still--any slight noise outside the camp startled and thrilled
the taut nerves. Not only was the night still; usually it was silent,
too.

But occasionally, when the silence was absolute, a couple or more of
prairie-wolves lurking in the vicinity, without the faintest note of
prelude, would startle the calm of night with their peculiar
commingling of barks, howls and wails,--a racket all their own. It was
the habit of these night prowlers of the desert to come as near to the
camp as their acute sense of safety permitted, and there, sitting on
their haunches, their noses pointed to the moon, render a serenade
that was truly thrilling. Two prairie-wolves, in a fugued duet, can
emit more disquieting noise, with a less proportion of harmony, than
any aggregation of several times their equal in numbers, not excepting
Indians on the war-path or a "gutter" band.

[Illustration: A coyote serenade]

That awe of the wilderness to which reference has been made, and its
effect on the nerves, may explain the stampede of cattle, often not
otherwise accounted for; which occurs sometimes in these hollow
solitudes. It occurs nowhere else that I have k