f his
own wonderful spirit into it! Well, as Jacques and I curvetted along,
skirting the low bushes at the edge of a wood, out burst a whole herd
of buffaloes. Bang went Jacques's gun, almost before I had winked to
make sure that I saw rightly, and down fell the fattest of them all,
while the rest tossed up their tails, heels, and heads in one grand
whirl of indignant amazement, and scoured away like the wind. In a
moment our horses were at full stretch after them, on their _own_
account entirely, and without any reference to _us_. When I recovered
my self-possession a little, I threw forward my gun and fired; but
owing to my endeavouring to hold the reins at the same time, I nearly
blew off one of my horse's ears, and only knocked up the dust about
six yards ahead of us! Of course Jacques could not let this pass
unnoticed. He was sitting quietly loading his gun, as cool as a
cucumber, while his horse was dashing forward at full stretch, with
the reins hanging loosely on his neck.

"Ah, Mister Charles," said he, with the least possible grin on his
leathern visage, "that was not well done. You should never hold the
reins when you fire, nor try to put the gun to your shoulder. It an't
needful. The beast'll look arter itself, if it's a riglar
buffalo-runner; any ways, holdin' the reins is of no manner of use. I
once know'd a gentleman that came out here to see the buffalo-huntin'.
He was a good enough shot in his way, an' a first-rate rider. But he
was full o' queer notions: he _would_ load his gun with the ramrod in
the riglar way, instead o' doin' as we do, tumblin' in a drop powder,
spittin' a ball out your mouth down the muzzle, and hittin' the stock
on the pommel of the saddle to send it home. And he had them
miserable things--the _somethin'_ 'cussion-caps, and used to fiddle
away with them while we were knockin' over the cattle in all
directions. Moreover, he had a notion that it was altogether wrong to
let go his reins even for a moment, and so, what between the ramrod
and the 'cussion-caps and the reins, he was worse than the greenest
clerk that ever came to the country. He gave it up in despair at
last, after lamin' two horses, and finished off by runnin' after a big
bull, that turned on him all of a suddent, crammed its head and horns
into the side of his horse, and sent the poor fellow head over heels
on the green grass. He wa