d could see the tossing, shaggy manes of the
leaders of the herd, and could even distinguish the redness of their
eyes as they swept up the incline, at the head of which he stood. He
hastily dodged behind the crag of rock; it was a small affair, hardly
higher than his head, but wide enough, he thought, to divide the herd
when they came to it. So he ducked behind it and waited for coming
events.

Sandy was right. Just beyond the rock behind which he was crouched,
the ground fell off rapidly and left a stiff slope, up which even a
stampeded buffalo would hardly climb. The ground trembled as the vast
army of living creatures came tumbling and thundering over the
prairie. Sandy, stooping behind the outcropping, also trembled, partly
with excitement and partly with fear. If the buffalo were to plunge
over the very small barrier between him and them, his fate was sealed.
For an instant his heart stood still. It was but for an instant, for,
before he could draw a long breath, the herd parted on the two sides
of the little crag. The divided stream poured down on both sides of
him, a tumultuous, broken, and disorderly torrent of animals, making
no sound except for the ceaseless beat of their tremendous hoofs.
Sandy's eyes swam with the bewildering motion of the living stream.
For a brief space he saw nothing but a confused mass of heads, backs,
and horns, hundreds of thousands flowing tumultuously past. Gradually
his sense of security came back to him, and, exulting in his safety,
he raised his gun, and muttering under his breath, "Right behind the
fore-shoulder-like, Younkins said," he took steady aim and fired. A
young buffalo bull tumbled headlong down the ravine. In their mad
haste, a number of the animals fell over him, pell-mell, but,
recovering themselves with incredible swiftness, they skipped to their
feet, and were speedily on their way down the hill. Sandy watched,
with a beating heart, the young bull as he fell heels over head two or
three times before he could rally; the poor creature got upon his
feet, fell again, and while the tender-hearted boy hesitated whether
to fire the second barrel or not, finally fell over on his side
helpless.

Meanwhile the ranks of buffalo coming behind swerved from the fallen
animal to the left and right, as if by instinct, leaving an open space
all around the point where the boy stood gazing at his fallen game. He
fired, almost at random, at the nearest of the flying buffalo; but th