ay at a pace that a
thorough-bred racer might envy. Better 'time,' to all appearance,
he has never seen made, and were it not that he himself is as much
astounded as the horses, there might be very pretty betting upon
the race.

'On one occasion, when a closely-hobbled horse was rushing madly
along the prairie under the influence of fright, his owner coolly
remarked: 'I wish I could make that critter go as fast on my own
account without hobbles, as he can on his own with them--I'd
gamble on him _sure_.' And so it is. No simile can give the reader
a fair conception of the grandeur of the spectacle, and the most
graphic arrangement of words must fall far short in describing the
startling and imposing effect of a regular _stampede_!

'While upon this subject, I should not, perhaps, neglect to notice
one of the little private _stampedes_ my friend Falconer's horse
was in the habit of occasionally getting up, principally on his
own individual account and to gratify his own peculiar tastes and
desires, entirely regardless, all the while, of his master's
convenience as well as of the public safety.

'He was a short, thick-set, scrubby, wiry nag, tough as a pine
knot, and self-willed as a pig. He was moreover exceedingly lazy,
as well as prone to have his own way, and take his own
jog--preferring a walk or gentle trot to a canter; and so
deep-rooted were his prejudices in favor of the former methods of
getting over the ground, that neither whip nor spur could drive
him from them. He possessed a commendable faculty of taking most
especial good care of himself, which he manifested by being always
found where water was nearest and the grass best, and on the whole
might be termed, in the language of those who consider themselves
judges of horse flesh, a 'tolerable chunk of a pony' for a long
journey.

'He had one bad quality however, which was continually putting his
master to serious inconvenience, and on more than one occasion
came near resulting seriously to all. One day we stopped to 'noon'
close by a spring of water, and had simply taken the bridles from
our horses to give them a chance to graze, when he improved the
occasion to show off one of his eccentricities. Falconer had a
way, as I have before stated, of packing all his scientific,
cooking, and other instruments upo