CHAPTER FOUR.
A RIDE UPON A BUFFALO BULL.
We had been out about two weeks when we struck the Arkansas "bend,"about six miles below the Plum Buttes. Here our waggons corralled andcamped. So far we had seen but little of the buffalo; only a straybull, or, at most, two or three together, and these shy. It was now therunning season, but none of the great droves, love-maddened, had crossedus.
"Yonder!" cried Saint Vrain; "fresh hump for supper!"
We looked north-west, as indicated by our friend.
Along the escarpment of a low table, five dark objects broke the line ofthe horizon. A glance was enough: they were buffaloes.
As Saint Vrain spoke, we were about slipping off our saddles. Back wentthe girth buckles with a sneck, down came the stirrups, up went we, andoff in the "twinkling of a goat's eye."
Half a score or so started; some, like myself, for the sport; whileothers, old hunters, had the "meat" in their eye.
We had made but a short day's march; our horses were still fresh, and inthree times as many minutes, the three miles that lay between us and thegame were reduced to one. Here, however, we were winded. Some of theparty, like myself, green upon the prairies, disregarding advice, hadridden straight ahead; and the bulls snuffed us on the wind. Whenwithin a mile, one of them threw up his shaggy front, snorted, struckthe ground with his hoof, rolled over, rose up again, and dashed off atfull speed, followed by his four companions.
It remained to us now either to abandon the chase or put our horses totheir mettle and catch up. The latter course was adopted, and wegalloped forward. All at once we found ourselves riding up to whatappeared to be a clay wall, six feet high. It was a stair between twotables, and ran right and left as far as the eye could reach, withoutthe semblance of a gap.
This was an obstacle that caused us to rein up and reflect. Somewheeled their horses, and commenced riding back, while half a dozen ofus, better mounted, among whom were Saint Vrain and my voyageur Gode,not wishing to give up the chase so easily, put to the spur, and clearedthe scarp.
From this point it caused us a five miles' gallop, and our horses awhite sweat, to come up with the hindmost, a young cow, which fell,bored by a bullet from every rifle in the party.
As the others had gained some distance ahead, and we had meat enough forall, we reined up, and, dismounting, set about "removing the hair."This operation was a short one under the skilful knives of the hunters.We had now leisure to look back, and calculate the distance we hadridden from camp.
"Eight miles, every inch!" cried one.
"We're close to the trail," said Saint Vrain, pointing to some oldwaggon tracks that marked the route of the Santa Fe traders.
"Well?"
"If we ride into camp, we shall have to ride back in the morning. Itwill be sixteen extra miles for our cattle."
"True."
"Let us stay here, then. Here's water and grass. There's buffalo meat;and yonder's a waggon load of `chips.' We have our blankets; what moredo we want?"
"I say, camp where we are."
"And I."
"And I."
In a minute the girth buckles flew open, our saddles were lifted off,and our panting horses were cropping the curly bunches of the prairiegrass, within the circles of their _cabriestos_.
A crystal rivulet, the arroyo of the Spaniards, stole away southward tothe Arkansas. On the bank of this rivulet, and under one of its bluffs,we chose a spot for our bivouac. The _bois de vache_ was collected, afire was kindled, and hump steaks, spitted on sticks, were soonsputtering in the blaze. Luckily, Saint Vrain and I had our flasksalong; and as each of them contained a pint of pure Cognac, we managedto make a tolerable supper. The old hunters had their pipes andtobacco, my friend and I our cigars, and we sat round the ashes till alate hour, smoking and listening to wild tales of mountain adventure.
At length the watch was told off, the lariats were shortened, thepicket-pins driven home, and my comrades, rolling themselves up in theirblankets, rested their heads in the hollow of their saddles, and went tosleep.
There was a man named Hibbets in our party, who, from his habits ofsomnolency, had earned the sobriquet of "Sleepy-head." For this reasonthe first watch had been assigned to him, being the least dangerous, asIndians seldom made their attacks until the hour of soundest sleep--thatbefore daybreak.
Hibbets had climbed to his post, the top of the bluff, where he couldcommand a view of the surrounding prairie.
Before night had set in, I had noticed a very beautiful spot on the bankof the arroyo, about two hundred yards from where my comrades lay. Asudden fancy came into my head to sleep there; and taking up my rifle,robe, and blanket, at the same time calling to "Sleepy-head" to awake mein case of alarm, I proceeded thither.
The ground, shelving gradually down to the arroyo, was covered with softbuffalo grass, thick and dry--as good a bed as was ever pressed bysleepy mortal. On this I spread my robe, and, folding my blanket aroundme, lay down, cigar in mouth, to smoke myself asleep.
It was a lovely moonlight, so clear that I could easily distinguish thecolours of the prairie flowers--the silver euphorbias, the goldensunflowers, and the scarlet malvas, that fringed the banks of the arroyoat my feet. There was an enchanting stillness in the air, broken onlyby an occasional whine from the prairie wolf, the distant snoring of mycompanions, and the "crop, crop" of our horses shortening the crispgrass.
I lay a good while awake, until my cigar burnt up to my lips (we smokethem close on the prairies); then, spitting out the stump, I turned overon my side, and was soon in the land of dreams.
I could not have been asleep many minutes when I felt sensible of astrange noise, like distant thunder, or the roaring of a waterfall. Theground seemed to tremble beneath me.
"We are going to have a dash of a thunder-shower," thought I, stillhalf-dreaming, half-sensible to impressions from without; and I drew thefolds of my blanket closer around me, and again slept.
I was awakened by a noise like thunder--indeed, like the trampling of athousand hoofs, and the lowing of a thousand oxen! The earth echoed andtrembled. I could hear the shouts of my comrades; the voices of SaintVrain and Gode, the latter calling out--
"Sacr-r-re! monsieur; prenez garde des buffles!"
I saw that they had drawn the horses, and were hurrying them under thebluff.
I sprang to my feet, flinging aside my blanket. A fearful spectacle wasbefore me. Away to the west, as far as the eye could reach, the prairieseemed in motion. Black waves rolled over its undulating outlines, asthough some burning mountain were pouring down its lava upon the plains.A thousand bright spots flashed and flitted along the moving surfacelike jets of fire. The ground shook, men shouted, horses reared upontheir ropes, neighing wildly. My dog barked, and bowled, running aroundme!
For a moment I thought I was dreaming; but no, the scene was too real tobe mistaken for a vision. I saw the border of a black wave within tenpaces of me, and still approaching! Then, and not till then, did Irecognise the shaggy crests and glaring eyeballs of the buffalo!
"Oh, God; I am in their track. I shall be trampled to death!"
It was too late to attempt an escape by running. I seized my rifle andfired at the foremost of the band. The effect of my shot was notperceptible. The water of the arroyo was dashed in my face. A hugebull, ahead of the rest, furious and snorting, plunged through thestream and up the slope. I was lifted and tossed high into the air. Iwas thrown rearwards, and fell upon a moving mass. I did not feel hurtor stunned. I felt myself carried onward upon the backs of severalanimals, that, in the dense drove, ran close together. These,frightened at their strange burden, bellowed loudly, and dashed on tothe front. A sudden thought struck me, and, fixing on that which wasmost under me, I dropped my legs astride of him, embracing his hump, andclutching the long woolly hair that grew upon his neck. The animal"routed" with extreme terror, and, plunging forward, soon headed theband.
This was exactly what I wan
ted; and on we went over the prairie, thebull running at top speed, believing, no doubt, that he had a panther ora catamount between his shoulders.
I had no desire to disabuse him of this belief, and, lest he should deemme altogether harmless, and come to a halt, I slipped out my bowie,which happened to be handy, and pricked him up whenever he showedsymptoms of lagging. At every fresh touch of the spur he roared out,and ran forward at a redoubled pace.
My danger was still extreme. The drove was coming on behind with thefront of nearly a mile. I could not have cleared it had the bullstopped and left me on the prairie.
Nothwithstanding the peril I was in, I could not resist laughing at myludicrous situation. I felt as one does when looking at a good comedy.
We struck through a village of prairie dogs. Here I fancied the animalwas about to turn and run back. This brought my mirth to a suddenpause; but the buffalo usually runs in a bee-line, and fortunately minemade no exception to the law. On he went, sinking to the knees, kickingthe dust from the conical hills, snorting and bellowing with rage andterror.
The Plum Buttes were directly in the line or our course. I had seenthis from the start, and knew that if I could reach them I would besafe. They were nearly three miles from the bluff where we hadbivouacked, but in my ride I fancied them ten.
A small one rose over the prairie, several hundred yards nearer than themain heights. Towards this I pricked the foaming bull in a laststretch, and he brought me cleverly within a hundred yards of its base.
It was now time to take leave of my dusky companion. I could haveslaughtered him as I leaned over his back. My knife rested upon themost vulnerable part of his huge body. No! I could not have slain thatbuffalo for the Koh-i-noor.
Untwisting my fingers from his thick fleece, I slipped down over histail, and without as much as saying "Goodnight!" ran with all my speedtowards the knoll. I climbed up; and sitting down upon a loose boulderof rock, looked over the prairie.
The moon was still shining brightly. My late companion had halted notfar from where I had left him, and stood glaring back with an air ofextreme bewilderment. There was something so comical in the sight thatI yelled with laughter as I sat securely on my perch.
I looked to the south-west. As far as the eye could see, the prairiewas black, and moving. The living wave came rolling onward and towardme; but I could now observe it in safety. The myriads of glancing eyes,sparkling like phosphoric gleams, no longer flashed terror.
The drove was still half a mile distant. I thought I saw quick gleams,and heard the report of firearms away over its left border; but I couldnot be certain. I had begun to think of the fate of my comrades, andthis gave me hopes that they were safe.
The buffaloes approached the butte on which I was seated; and,perceiving the obstacle, suddenly forked into two great belts, and sweptright and left around it. What struck me at this moment as curious was,that my bull, my particular bull, instead of waiting till his comradeshad come up, and falling in among the foremost, suddenly tossed up hishead, and galloped off as if a pack of wolves had been after him. Heran towards the outside of the band. When he had reached a point thatplaced him fairly beyond the flank, I could see him closing in, andmoving on with the rest.
This strange tactic of my late companion puzzled me at the time, but Iafterwards learned that it was sound strategy on his part. Had heremained where I had parted with him, the foremost bulls coming up wouldhave mistaken him for an individual of some other tribe, and wouldcertainly have gored him to death.
I sat upon the rock for nearly two hours, silently watching the sablestream as it poured past. I was on an island in the midst of a blackand glittering sea. At one time I fancied I was moving, that the buttewas sailing onward, and the buffaloes were standing still. My head swamwith dizziness, and I leaped to my feet to drive away the strangeillusion.
The torrent rolled onward, and at length the hindmost went stragglingpast. I descended from the knoll, and commenced groping my way over theblack, trodden earth. What was lately a green sward now presented theaspect of ground freshly ploughed, and trampled by droves of oxen.
A number of white animals, resembling a flock of sheep, passed near me.They were wolves hanging upon the skirts of the herd.
I pushed on, keeping to the southward. At length I heard voices; and,in the clear moonlight, could see several horsemen galloping in circlesover the plain. I shouted "Hollo!" A voice answered mine, and one ofthe horsemen came galloping up; it was Saint Vrain.
"Why, bless me, Haller!" cried he, reining up, and bending from hissaddle to get a better view of me, "is it you or your ghost? As I sithere, it's the man himself, and alive!"
"Never in better condition," I replied.
"But where did you come from? the clouds? the sky? where?" And hisquestions were echoed by the others, who at this moment were shaking meby the hand, as if they had not seen me for a twelvemonth.
Gode seemed to be the most perplexed man of the party.
"Mon Dieu! run over; tramp by von million buffles, et ne pas mort!'Cr-r-re matin!"
"We were hunting for your body, or rather, the fragments of it," saidSaint Vrain. "We had searched every foot of the prairie for a mileround, and had almost come to the conclusion that the fierce brutes hadeaten you up."
"Eat monsieur up! No! tre million buffles no him eat. Mon Dieu! Ha,Sleep-head!"
This exclamation of the Canadian was addressed to Hibbets, who hadfailed to warn my comrades of where I lay, and thus placed me in such adangerous predicament.
"We saw you tossed in the air," continued Saint Vrain, "and fall rightinto the thick of them. Then, of course, we gave you up. But how, inHeaven's name, have you got clear?"
I related my adventure to my wondering comrades.
"Par Dieu!" cried Gode, "un garcon tres bizarre: une aventure tresmerveilleuse!"
From that hour I was looked upon as a "captain" on the prairies.
My comrades had made good work of it, as a dozen dark objects that layupon the plain testified. They had found my rifle and blankets, thelatter trodden into the earth.
Saint Vrain had still a few drops in his flask; and after swallowingthese, and again placing the guard, we returned to our prairie couchesand slept out the night.