been impressed by the enormous size of the
hoof prints, the largest that he had ever seen, but there was no fear,
nor even apprehension in his valiant soul.

"It is the king of them all," he said. "Pteha (the buffalo) in these
mountains has grown to twice the usual size, and attacked by cold and
hunger he has the temper of the grizzly bear. He is but a little
distance away, and we need rifles to go against him, but we do not turn
back! Do we, Roka? Do we, Waditaka?"

"We do not," whispered Roka.

"Not thinking of such a thing," whispered Will.

They pushed their way farther, crossed a small ravine and, resting a
moment or two on the other side, heard a puffing, a low sound but of
great volume.

"Pteha," whispered Pehansan.

"Among the cedars, scarce fifty yards away," said Roka. "Now suppose we
separate and approach from three points. It will give us a better chance
to plant our arrows in him, and he cannot charge more than one at a
time."

"Good tactics, Roka," whispered Will.

Roka, as the oldest, took the center, Pehansan turned to the right and
Will to the left. The white youth held his great elkhorn bow ready and
the quiver of arrows was over his shoulder, but, after the Sioux
fashion, he carried five or six also in his left hand that he might fire
them as quickly as one pulls the trigger of a repeating rifle. The
figures of Roka and Pehansan were hidden from him almost instantly by
the bushes and he went forward slowly, picking his dangerous way on the
snowshoes, his heart beating hard. He still had the feeling that he was
creeping upon a mammoth or mastodon, and the low puffing and blowing
increased in volume, indicating very clearly that it came from mighty
lungs.

The feeling that he had been thrown back into a distant past grew upon
Will. He was in the deep snow, armed only with bow and arrows, around
him were the huge, frozen mountains, desolate and awful in their
majesty, and before him, only a few yards away, was the great beast, the
puffings and blowings of which filled his ears. He fingered the elkhorn
bow and then recalled his steadiness and courage. A few steps farther
and he caught a glimpse of a vast hairy back. Evidently the animal was
lying down and it would give the hunters an advantage, as they could
fire at least one arrow apiece before it rose to its feet.

Another long, sliding step on the snowshoes and he saw more clearly the
beast, on its side in a great hollow it had made for i