Part 6 (2/2)

For three days we travelled on in their coe herd of buffaloes were feeding a few leagues off to the southwest Our friends i that the Coonal defeat they had received, would not attack the from our friends; but as ished to see reed to accolad to see, was as well able to sit his horse as before, and he declared that he was ready to undergo any aether as possible; but we endeavoured not to show that we doubted the honest intentions of the Indians

Occasionally the Yellow Wolf, getting off his horse, put his ear to the ground to listen, as he said ”for the feet of the buffalo”

At length, quickly , he exclaiht of the herd We therefore pushed rapidly forward; and, reaching the top of a slight rising,a large nuht, on one side of where the buffalo were feeding, was a smaller elevation to that on which ere posted Guided by the chief wethe further or western side, the chief advised that we should dis that he wished to attack the buffalo in a way often adopted by his people before charging in areed, anxious to see the ht with the up the hill, over the brohich we looked to watch as going forward,them put the skins on their backs, and take their bows and a quantity of arrows in their hands, so that at a distance they much resembled wolves On they went, whenever shelter could be obtained, running rapidly forward, but as they got on the open plain again bending down and creeping on all fours Whenever they saw the shaggy beasts looking at the on the ground, as if they had no intention of approaching the herd When the buffaloes went on feeding they again advanced

Were the buffaloes sharp-sighted aniht have discovered their foes; but their hair covering their eyes prevents theot closer and closer

Having selected the fattest ani for a moment, let fly his arrohich entered the breast of a buffalo near hi for a few paces, dropped without disturbing the rest, who seemed to fancy that their coround Each of the other Indians did the sa any notice of the beasts they had killed, continued their course, shooting arrow after arrow, until upwards of a dozen buffaloes had bit the ground

It is only, however, when the bison are quietly feeding that they can be approached in this way When they are on the move, they keep their eyes about theuised hunters would probably have killed an to move on The moment the chief observed this he called to us and the others to come forward; and ae dashed after the herd, which, alarmed at the sound of the horses'

hoofs, rushed on, every instant increasing their speed As before all was silence and quiet, now the air was rent with a confusion of sounds-- the tra horses, the shouts and cries of the hunters as they dashed forward in chase

We let the We reoing at full gallop, they let fly their arrows, always aiood care never to head them, while they kept at a sufficient distance to have rooes the terror-stricken bisons occasionally made

After they had shot a considerable nuave our horses the rein and were soon up with the herd

Arlory, and upheld the honour of the whitethree buffaloes, while dick and I killed two

I saw Charley shoot down one in very good style, and then pursue another which he hadhim, when my horse stumbled in a hole and threw me over its head I quickly recoverednone the worse for its fall, when I saw a huge buffalo dashi+ng up with the intention of tossinginto et a few paces off, when the buffalo's horns pierced the ground at the very spot where I had been standing

Disappointed at not finding ht was et to such a distance froain to face hi round ht the buffalo to the ground In the alloped off followed by the hunters, ere now a long distance away, so far indeed as to make it impossible for me to overtake theue of the last animal I had killed and directedon ues of the two other bisons I had killed I was soon overtaken by dick, who had also turned back He said that the rest of our party had gone on with the Indians, in pursuit of the herd

He regretted that Charley had not returned with us, as he would be overco a ride We e supper ready for our friends At last Are and Story came in, but Charley did not make his appearance

”He'll return soon,” said dick ”Let me consider, when did I see him last? I cannot quite recollect, but I re a buffalo; and I had no doubt that he shot the brute, and fully expected to see him here”

We waited, but aited in vain At last we applied to our Indian friends, but they were revelling in buffalo meat, and were not disposed to set out in search of Charley; pro pale-face not have returned by that ties consu, and had their enemies pounced down upon them they would haveca in search of Charley, saying that theyin the buffalo meat they had killed

We therefore had to set off alone, not a little disgusted at their behaviour We bade the that the life of one of our party was more precious to us than all the buffalo ues and other portions of the animals we had killed, so that we had abundance of provisions which would last us until we could obtain venison or fall in with another herd of buffalo

Though we ent search, with the assistance of old Folkard and the Indians engaged by Are, we failed to discover Charley's trail; and we feltthan we had done during the whole of our expedition

CHAPTER SEVEN

Several days were spent in a vain search for Charley Are and

Story said they feared that he must either have been killed by a buffalo, and his body devoured by wolves; or that he had been carried away by so us, and had captured hih afraid to attack our ca ourselves to believe that he was dead We were glad to find that old Folkard was of our opinion He had known men, he said, who had wandered away from camp and been absent several weeks before they were found or ood supply of a a fair shot, would be able to procure food We begged Arer This they consented to do We were now in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains, where they ht obtain a variety of sport, so that they had no cause to cohts, as well as dick's, were entirely occupied by Charley, and we could take no interest in hunting We, however, did our duty in trying to supply the caa the country in the hopes of discovering our young friend, or ascertaining the cause of his death

At length the old trapper bade us farewell, saying that he should strike away north, to a district where beavers abounded, for he could no longer spend his time in comparative idleness We were sorry to lose him, for he was a capital coed us in his quaint ith his numberless adventures and hair-breadth escapes, sufficient to make the hair of my old uncle, the Alderman, stand out from his head

Day after day went by When we met Pierre and the Indians who had assisted us in the search, the sa