and asked him what success
he had met with. He had assailed a fat cow, shot her with two bullets,
and mortally wounded her. But neither of us were prepared for the chase
that afternoon, and Shaw, like myself, had no spare bullets in his
pouch; so he abandoned the disabled animal to Henry Chatillon, who
followed, dispatched her with his rifle, and loaded his horse with her
meat.

We encamped close to the river. The night was dark, and as we lay down
we could hear mingled with the howling of the wolves the hoarse
bellowing of the buffalo, like the ocean beating upon a distant coast.

THE BUFFALO CAMP

The morning was a bright and gay one, and the air so clear that on the
farthest horizon the outline of the pale blue prairie was sharply drawn
against the sky. Shaw felt in the mood for hunting; he rode in advance
of the party, and before long we saw a file of bulls galloping at full
speed upon a vast green swell of the prairie at some distance in front.
Shaw came scouring along behind them, arrayed in his red shirt, which
looked very well in the distance; he gained fast on the fugitives, and
as the foremost bull was disappearing behind the summit of the swell, we
saw him in the act of assailing the hindmost; a smoke sprang from the
muzzle of his gun, and floated away like a little white cloud; the bull
turned upon him, and just then the rising ground concealed them both
from view.

We were moving forward until about noon, when we stopped by the side of
the Arkansas. At that moment Shaw appeared riding slowly down the side
of a distant hill; his horse was tired and jaded; and when he threw his
saddle upon the ground, I observed that the tails of two bulls were
dangling behind it. No sooner were the horses turned loose to feed than
Henry, asking Munroe to go with him, took his rifle and walked quietly
away. Shaw, Tete Rouge and I sat down by the side of the cart to discuss
the dinner which Delorier placed before us; we had scarcely finished
when we saw Munroe walking toward us along the river bank. Henry, he
said, had killed four fat cows, and had sent him back for horses to
bring in the meat. Shaw took a horse for himself and another for Henry,
and he and Munroe left the camp together.

After a short absence all three of them came back, their horses loaded
with the choicest parts of the meat; we kept two of the cows for
ourselves and gave the others to Munroe and his companions. Delorier
seated himself on the grass