CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
HINTS ON BISON-HUNTING.
"Ease off a bit, Master Bart," cried Joses, after they had all beenriding at full gallop for a couple of miles over the plains. "Whoo--hoop, my Injun friends! Whoo--hoop!"
"Whoo-hoop! whoo-hoop! whoo-hoop!" yelled back the Indians, excitedly;and taking it as an incentive to renewed exertion, they pressed theflanks of their horses, which responded freely, and they swept on moreswiftly still.
"Tell Beaver to stop a bit," cried Joses; "you're nighest to him, mylad." And Bart was about to shout some words to the chief, who was onhis other side, riding with eyes flashing with excitement, and everynerve on the throb, thoroughly enjoying the wild race after so long atime of inaction in the camp. And it was not only the riders whoenjoyed the racing; the horses seemed to revel in it, all tossing theirmassive manes and snorting loudly with delight, while swift as they wentthey were always so well-prepared that they would try to kick each otherwhenever two were in anything like close proximity.
Bart shouted to the Beaver to check his pace, but he was misunderstood,and the party swept on, whooping with delight, for all the world like apack of excited schoolboys just let loose for a holiday.
"We shall have our nags regularly blown, my lad," panted Joses;--"andthen if we come upon unfriendly Injuns it'll be the worse for us. Let'syou and me draw rein, then they'll stop."
A pause in the mad gallop came without the inciting of Bart and hisfollower, for all at once one of the Indians' horses planted his hoof ina gopher hole, cunningly contrived by the rat-like creature just in theopen part of the plain; and unable to recover itself or check itsheadlong speed, the horse turned a complete somersault, throwing hisrider right over his head quite twenty feet away, and as the rest drewrein and gathered round, it seemed for the time as if both pony andrider were killed.
Bart leaped down to go to the poor fellow's help, but just as the ladreached him, the Indian, who had been lying flat upon his back, suddenlysat up, shook his head, and stared round in bewilderment. The nextmoment he had caught sight of his steed, and leaped to his feet to runand catch the rein just as the pony was struggling up.
As the pony regained its feet the Indian leaped upon its back, while thesturdy little animal gave itself a shake that seemed to be like onegigantic quiver, beginning at its broad inflated nostrils, and endingwith the rugged strands of its great thick uncombed tail.
Just then the Beaver uttered a yell, and away the whole party sweptagain, the Indian who had fallen seeming in no wise the worse for hisencounter with the sandy earth.
"That's where the Indian gets the better of the white man, Master Bart.A fall like that would have about knocked all the life out of me. It'smy belief them Injuns likes it, and so you see they can bear so muchthat they grow hard to clear away; and in spite of our being so muchmore knowing, they're often too much for us."
"But had we not better pull up, Joses?" cried Bart, for they weretearing along over the plain once more at a tremendous gallop.
"It's no use to try, my lad; the horses won't stop and leave them othersgalloping on. You may train horses as much as you like, but there's alot of nature left in them, and that you can't eddicate out."
"What do you mean?" panted Bart, for it was hard work riding so fast.
"What do I mean, my boy? why, that horses is used to going in big drovestogether, and this puts 'em in mind of it, and they like it. You tryand pull Black Boy in. There, I told you so. See how he gnaws at hisbit and pulls. There's no stopping him, my lad, no more than there ismine. Let 'em go, my lad. Perhaps we mayn't meet any one we don't wantto meet after all."
Hardly had he spoken before the Beaver raised his arm, and his followerspulled up as if by magic, forming in quite a small circle close to him,with their horses' heads almost touching him.
The Beaver signed to Bart and Joses to approach, and room was made forthem to join in the little council which was to be held, and the resultwas that being now well out in the plains far north of where they hadoriginally travelled to reach the mountain, they now headed off to thewest, the Indians separating, and opening out more and more so as tocover wider ground with their keen eyes, while every little eminence wasclimbed so that the horizon could be swept in search of bison.
"Do you think we shall meet with any, Joses?" asked Bart.
"What, buffler, my lad? Well, I hope so. There's never no knowing, forthey're queer beasts, and there's hundreds here to-day, and to-morrowyou may ride miles and miles, and not see a hoof. Why, I've known timeswhen I've come upon a drove that was miles long."
"Miles, Joses?"
"Yes, Master Bart, miles long. Bulls, and cows, and calves, of allkinds, from little bits o' things, right up to some as was nearly as bigas their fathers and mothers, only not so rough and fat; and they'd goon over the plain in little bands. If you was looking at 'em from faroff, it seemed like one great long drove that there was no counting, butwhen you rode nearer to see, you found that what you took for one bigdrove was only made up of hundreds of other droves--big families like offathers, and mothers, and children, which always kept themselves tothemselves and didn't mix with the others. Then all along outside theflanks of the great drove of droves you'd see the wolves hanging about,half-starved, fierce-looking vermin, licking their bare chops, andwaiting their chance to get something to eat."
"But wolves wouldn't attack the great bison, would they?" asked Bart.
"Only when they're about helpless--wounded or old, you know, then theywill. What they wolves is waiting for is for the young calves--little,helpless sort of things that are always being left behind as the greatdrove goes feeding on over the plains; and if you watch a drove, you'llevery now and then find a calf lying down, and its mother trying to coaxit to get up and follow the others, while the old cow keeps mooing andmaking no end of a noise, and cocking up her tail, and making littlesets of charges at the wolves to drive them back whenever they get toonear. Ah, it's a rum sight to see the lank, fierce, hungry beastslicking their chops, and thinking every now and then that they've gotthe calf, for the old mother keeps going off a little way to try andmake the stupid cow baby get up and follow. Then the wolves make arush, and so does the buffalo, and away go the hungry beggars, for awolf is about as cowardly a thing as ever run on four legs, that he is."
"I should like to see a sight like that, Joses," said Bart; "how I wouldshoot at the wolves!"
"What for?" said Joses.
"What for? Why, because they must be such cowardly, cruel beasts, totry and kill the calves."
"So are we cowardly, cruel beasts, then," said Joses, philosophically."Wolves want to live same as humans, and it's all their nature. If theydidn't kill and keep down the buffler, the country would be all buffler,and there wouldn't be room for a man to walk. It's all right, I tellyou; wolves kills buffler for food, and so do we. Why, you neverthought, praps, how bufflers fill up the country in some parts. I'veseen droves of 'em miles upon miles long, and if it wasn't for thewolves and the Injun, as I said afore, there wouldn't be room foranything else."
"Are there so many as you say, Joses?" asked Bart.
"Not now, my lad. There used to be, but they've been killed down adeal. You see the Injun lives on 'em a'most. He cuts up and dries thebeef, and he makes himself buffler robes of the skins, and very nicewarm things they are in cold parts up in the mountains. I don't knowwhat the Injun would do if it wasn't for the buffler. He'd starve. Notas that would be so very much consequence, as far as some tribes goes--Comanches and Apaches, and them sort as lives by killing and murderingevery one they sees. Halloa! what's that mean?"
He pulled up, and shaded his eyes with his hand, to gaze at where one ofthe Indians was evidently making some sign with his spear as he sat in apeculiar way, right on their extreme left, upon an eminence in theplain.
Bart looked eagerly on, so as to try and learn what this signal meant.
"Oh, I know," said Joses directly, as he saw the Beaver mak
e his horsecircle round. "He can see a herd far out on the plain, and the Beaverhas just signalled him back; so ride on, my lad, and we may perhaps comeacross a big run of the rough ones before the day is out."