sed down by the horses' feet into the earth, a little of the sand
stuck to it, (coz it waz damp), that has dried on since. Now if the trail
bed been made after eight o'clock, when the grass was dry, why, it
wouldn't stick eny more than it does now."

"A very satisfactory explanation," said I.

"Now what I propose is," continued Jerry, "thet we just foller the trail,
and we'll strike something afore many hours, ez sure's my name's Jerry
Vance."

"But we may get into trouble," urged I.

"Ther ain't no danger. It's a party of squaws and pappooses, I reckon,
coz yer see ther ain't more'n four horses with 'em."

"I'm agreed," said I, and away we galloped over the beautiful green
prairie; but, before we had gone a mile, a fine large herd of antelope
appeared, quietly grazing upon a knoll at a little distance, who, when
they saw us, stood for an instant curiously regarding us, and then
trotted leisurely away.

"They're kinder wild, I reckon," said Jerry. "These Injuns must hev bin
huntin' 'em, and we might chase 'em all day without gittin' a shot. So
we'll just tie our horses in thet chaparral down there, out of sight, and
then we'll call 'em up."

We dismounted, and securing our horses, followed Jerry. He removed the
ramrod from his rifle, and tied to one end of it an old-fashioned, red
bandana handkerchief. This done, he planted the other end firmly in the
ground, leaving the flag to flutter in the breeze.

"Now, boys, you just lie down here, in the tall grass, so thet the
critters won't see yer, and wait awhile."

Following Jerry's instructions, we placed ourselves in the tall grass,
and lying still awaited the result of the experiment.

"Yer see," continued he, talking in a low tone of voice, "antelope's the
most curious critters in the world, 'ceptin' women. Jist ez soon ez they
see thet red flag, they'll want to know what it means, and they won't
rest easy till they find out, either."

And, sure enough, in a few moments we saw the graceful creatures, one
after another, turn and attentively look at the signal. Then they slowly
walked towards it. Then came a pause and a nibble of grass, and again, as
though they could not resist the desire to ascertain what this singular
thing fluttering in the breeze was, they hesitatingly came still nearer,
as though they feared some hidden danger. In this way they soon
approached within easy range, and we shot five with our revolvers.

"There," said Jerry, as the remainder