The Hunters of the Ozark

  CHAPTER XXX.

  TERRY FINISHES HIS RIDE.

  That ride of Terry Clark on the back of the buffalo bull was one whichhe could never forget had he wished to do so, which of course he didnot. The first thrill, when the beast dashed off on a dead run, and thewind began blowing by the ears of the lad, was that of pleasure. He washaving an exciting ride, and, as good fortune would have it, the animalwas bearing him straight along the trail toward the camp in the Ozarks.

  "If the baste will show enough consideration for me," thought the lad,"to kape up his coorse for twinty miles or so, he will give me a goodlift toward raichin' the folks, though sorry I am that I haven't Fredalongside or rather behind me."

  The bull being on a run, his progress consisted of a series of quickjumps, which jarred the rider so much that had he not kept a good gripupon the shaggy mane, he would have been unseated. The hair of theanimal was so long that he was able to make his hold secure, though hehad a constant fear that he would stumble, in which case the rider wassure to take a tremendous header that was likely to break his neck.

  Terry could feel the throb, as it may be called, of the engine. Hisposition was such that his heels touched the body close to the shouldersof the bull. At that point there was an alternate swelling and sinkingof the muscles, as the animal alighted on his feet and leaped awayagain, which Terry felt as plainly as if he had held his open hand onthe shoulder. Then, too, the bull had a peculiar sidelong motion, asthough some of his muscles occasionally got out of "gear," and theaction of the hind legs did not "dovetail," so to speak, with that ofthe fore legs.

  Nothing escaped the eye of Terry during those exciting minutes. Hethought the head of the bull was held unusually low, but he noticed theshort, thick horns, curving outward and then coming over until theyended within a few inches of each other, and he was sure that amid thedusty frontispiece of the immense area of skull bone he could see wherehis useless bullet had struck and glanced off; once or twice he caught awhiff of the breath of the buffalo, redolent with the not unpleasantodor of grass, and now and then he could hear his fierce snort. Itseemed to Terry that the animal turned his head partly to one side as ifto get a view of the strange creature on his back. Doubtless such wasthe fact, and, after each sight, it seemed that he bounded away withmore terror than before.

  Brief as was the time taken by the bull in galloping across the prairie,it allowed Terry to see every thing. As soon as he felt sure ofretaining his seat, he glanced at the other animals, all of which weregalloping in the same direction as the bull. Some of them were so fleetthat they passed him, but he retained his place near the middle of theherd.

  The buffalo, or properly the bison, is a stupid animal, but a peculiarfact about the small drove amid which Terry Clark was riding was that anumber noticed him and in their way tried to push him off. They woulddash up beside the bull with head lowered, and rub their horns againsthim in the effort to reach the rider and unseat him.

  "The only way in which ye can do that," said Terry, when he saw whatthey were trying to do, "is to climb up and take a saat behind me. Thin,if ye'll lock yer arms about me nick ye may persuade me to stip down,but ye can't do much while on the ground."

  The buffaloes were too dull of intellect to realize their helplessnessin this respect, and they continued crowding close to the bull untilthey must have caused him some discomfort. This crowding was of such amarked character that, as you will remember, it was noticed by FredLinden as far off as he stood.

  Once or twice the rider had one of his feet slightly jammed, but he wasable to lift it out of danger without imperiling his position. The dustcaused by the hoofs of the animals did not rise until his steed hadpassed beyond, so that he suffered nothing therefrom and every thing infront was in plain view. The speed of the beast, however, caused someinconvenience, for the wind made him blink, and it was only by halfclosing his eyes that he could peer out between the lids and seeclearly.

  Before the other side of the prairie was reached, Terry Clark beganasking himself the natural and important question,--How is this to end?

  The same theories that I have mentioned as occurring to Fred Lindenpassed through his brain also. If the bull should dash among the treesat that headlong pace, the rider could not retain his place for morethan a minute or two; if he was wounded enough to cause him to give outand fall to the ground, he would be trampled upon by those behind andTerry of course would share his fate.

  Brief as was the time given for thought, the youth considered a halfdozen plans. He glanced over his shoulder and was alarmed to see howmany animals were in the rear of him. He asked himself whether he couldnot slip backward, grasp the swinging tail, and dropping to the ground,keep his feet while he held fast to the caudal appendage, and pullingthe other way, act as a brake upon the progress of the animal until allthe others had passed on. Then he would "release brakes," and allow thebull to continue his career as suited himself.

  But he was compelled to admit that the plan was not feasible. The bullwas going at such a pace that the rider would be sure to lose hisbalance the moment he struck the ground, and, though he might still holdfast to the tail and retard the progress of the beast, he was sure ofgetting in the way of his heels.

  "If his tail was a little longer," reflected Terry, "I would try thesame, but I'm afeard I would git mixed up with his hind hoofs and thingswouldn't be agraaable."

  So that plan was abandoned.

  "If he goes in among the trees, I'll lean forward on me face until heknocks out his brains--that is, if he has any--whin I'll dismount."

  That was all well enough if the bull should happen to follow theprogramme, but the prospect of his doing so was too remote to affordmuch comfort to the youth.

  "I guess I'll kaap erict like a gintleman," he concluded, "and as soonas a chance comes for me to jump off, I'll go."

  Terry had no thought but that the buffaloes would dash among the treesand continue their flight in the same headlong fashion, as long as theycould; but, to his amazement, the head of the drove suddenly swerved tothe left and the bull followed.

  "Be the powers, but this will never do," was his conclusion; "thisperarie may raach all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and the bulldoesn't act as if he meant to stop before he raaches there; I'm goin' tomake other arrangements."

  He kept his seat until the drove had gone several hundred yards withunabated speed. So far as he could judge, the bull was holding his ownwith the rest: whatever wound he had received was of no account, so faras its immediate effect was seen. The others continued crowding up asbefore, but Terry did not mind them. He yelled and shook his head in thehope of frightening them off so as to give him the room he wished inorder to make his venture, but they did not mind him. The odd cracklingof their hoofs, the rattling of their horns as they struck together, andtheir occasional bellowing, made a din amid which no shout that he couldraise would gain any consideration whatever.

  "There's one thing sartin," said Terry, compressing his lips and showingby his action that he had made up his mind to end the business one wayor the other. "I'm tired of this crowd, and I ain't goin' to spind anymore time with it."

  Between him and the wood were seven or eight buffaloes, crowding closein their idiotic fashion, as though to push off the rider. Terryrecalled the day, early in spring, when he ran rapidly across the creeknear his home, by stepping upon the surging masses of ice, one after theother, and leaping off again before they had time to respond to hisweight. He resolved to try something of the kind.

  Holding fast to the wiry mane with his hands, he drew his feet up underhim, balanced himself a moment, then straightened up, and, turningquickly, stepped upon the back of the bull that was immediatelyalongside. Before that creature could know what had been done, thepressure was removed and the weight of the lad was borne by a cow whichwas his next neighbor.

  Terry Clark ran as nimbly as a monkey across the backs of theintervening buffaloes, until his foot rested on the one nearest thewood. A slight slip at the moment of
stepping upon his back disconcertedhim so that he could not recover himself. His intention was to land onthe ground with his face in the same direction he was going. Then, evenif he could not keep his feet, he could run with such speed that hisfall would not hurt him; but unfortunately as he struck the ground hefaced the other way, and before he could check himself, he went overbackward with such force that he was knocked senseless.

  After all, the fall may be considered a fortunate one, for he was notseriously hurt and soon recovered himself. He had received a severeshock, but in a short time he sat up and stared about him. Recallingwhat had taken place, he looked in the direction of the herd ofbuffaloes. None of them was in sight, but a dark heap a short distanceaway showed where the bull on which he had ridden had given out andfallen to the ground. He was wounded more seriously than at first seemedto be the case. Had Terry stayed on his back a few brief minutes longer,he would have gone down with him and been trampled to death by the hoofsof those in the rear.

  "I think I'm all here, as me cousin used to remark after he had enj'yedhimself at Donnybrook Fair," said Terry, rising carefully to his feet,swinging his arms and kicking out his legs. He had been violentlyjarred, and he was alarmed by a dizziness that caused him to sit downagain. But he recovered quickly, and soon was as well as ever. He turnedto the left and passed among the trees, where, despite the coolness ofthe day, he felt the relief of the shade thus afforded him.

  "I s'pose Fred will be jealous whin he finds out what a foine ride Ihave had," he added, his old sense of humor coming back; "but all he hasto do is to catch a buffalo bull and git on his back: but I don't thinkhe'll forgit the same right away."

  Looking over the prairie, he saw the figure of his friend walking inalmost a direct line toward him, though he was so far off that he wasnot distinctly visible, partly because of the dust which still lingeredin the air.

  Fred's encounter with the Winnebago horsemen had taken place and endedwhile Terry lay senseless on the ground, so that the latter had nosuspicion of the exciting occurrence.

  Terry ought to have walked out on the plain, swung his hat and cheeredhis friend; but that would have been contrary to his nature. He kept outof sight among the trees, until Fred was quite close, when he broke intovigorous whistling.

  Fred heard the familiar sound, stopped short, looked about him and thenburst into laughter as he saw his comrade. The next moment they rantogether, shook hands and mutually congratulated each other, as you willadmit they had full warrant in doing.