Part 10 (2/2)

BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID

A few days afterward, another adventure befellthe ”mountainthe number--had pushed forward ahead of the caravan Our object was to arrive at Santa Fe a day or two before the wagons, in order to have every thing arranged with the governor for their entrance into the capital We took the route by the Cih a barren desert, without game, and almost without water The buffalo had all disappeared, and deer were equally scarce We had to content ourselves on the dried ht from the settlements We were in the deserts of the arte away before us, but keeping far out of range They, too, see the caravan, as ere riding near the Ci behind a swell in the prairie My coo without of trail, I started alone One of the, as I did not choose to take hiht alar; and, whether successful or not, I knew I could easily overtake the party by ca-time

I struck directly toward the spot where I had seen the object It appeared to be only half a mile or so from the trail It proved more distant--a coions

A curiously fore, traversed the plain from east to west A thicket of cactus covered part of its summit Toward the thicket I directed myself

I disthe cactus plants, tied hih the thorny leaves toward the point where I fancied I had seen the game To my joy, not one antelope, but a brace of those beautiful ani beyond; but alas! too far off for the carry of my rifle They were fully three hundred yards distant, upon a se bush to cover me, should I attempt to approach them What was to be done?

I lay for severalover the different tricks, known in hunter craft, for taking the antelope Should I imitate their call?

Should I hoist my handkerchief and try to lure them up? I saw that they were too shy; for, at short intervals, they threw up their graceful heads, and looked inquiringly around them I remembered the red blanket on my saddle I could display this upon the cactus-bushes, perhaps it would attract theo back for the blanket; when, all at once,across the prairie, beyond where the ani It was a break in the plain, a buffalo road, or the channel of an _arroyo_, in either case, the very cover I wanted, for the ani still nearer to it as they fed

Creeping back out of the thicket, I ran along the side of the slope toward a point, where I had noticed that the ridge was depressed to the prairie level Here, to my surprise, I found myself on the banks of a broad arroyo, whose water, clear and shallow, ran slowly over a bed of sand and gypsum

The banks were low, not over three feet above the surface of the water, except where the ridge ih bluff; and, hurrying around its base, I entered the channel, and co upward

As I had anticipated, I soon ca parallel to the ridge, swept around and canoned through it At this place I stopped, and looked cautiously over the bank The antelopes had approached within less than rifle range of the arroyo; but they were yet far above , and unconscious of danger I again bent down and waded on

It was a difficult task proceeding in this way The bed of the creek was soft and yielding, and I was compelled to tread slowly and silently, lest I should alarame; but I was cheered in my exertions by the prospect of fresh venison forof several hundred yards, I ca out of the bank ”I ht I, ”these will serve for cover”

I raised h the leaves I was in the right spot I brought hted for the heart of the buck, and fired The aniround, and fell back lifeless I was about to rush forward, and secureoff as I expected, go up to her fallen partner, and press her tapering nose to his body She was not more than twenty yards from me, and I could plainly see that her look was one of inquiry and bewilderment All at once, she see back her head, co thein circles around the body

I stood wavering between two minds My first impulse had been to reload, and kill the doe; but her plaintive voice enteredthis painful spectacle, I should not have left the trail But the ht I, ”it will be better to despatch her at once”

Actuated by these principles of common, but to her fatal, humanity, I rested the butt of ain leveled the piece and fired:

My nerves were steady enough to do the work When the s upon the grass--her head resting upon the body of her murdered mate

I shouldered my rifle, and was about to move forward, when, to ht by the feet I was held firs had been held in a vice

I made an effort to extricate myself; another, more violent, and equally unsuccessful, and, with a third, I lost my balance, and fell back upon the water Half suffocated, I regained ht position, but only to find that I was held as fast as ever Again I struggled to free my limbs I could neither ht nor the left; and I beca down Then the fearful truth flashed uponof horror cay of desperation I leaned to one side, then to the other, al my knees from their sockets My feet remained as fast as ever I could not y sand already overtoppedthem around my ankles, so that I was unable to draw the slowly but surely, as though so ht caused me a fresh thrill of horror, and I called aloud for help To who Yes! the neigh ofme in my despair

I bent forward as well as ers co up the sand I could barely reach the surface, and the little holloas able to ht occurred to ht support me, placed horizontally I looked for it It was not to be seen It had sunk beneath the sand Could I throwdeeper? No! The water o feet in depth

I should drown at once This last hope left me as soon as formed I could think of no plan to save e stupor seized uponmad For a moment I was mad

After an interval, my senses returned I made an effort to rouse ht meet death, which I now believed to be certain, as a man should I stood erect My eyes had sunk to the prairie level, and rested upon the still bleeding victiht Was I suffering a retribution of God? With huhts, I turned n of oer would scowl upon ht as ever; and the blue canopy of the world ithout a cloud I gazed upith earnestness known only to the hearts of men in positions of peril like mine

As I continued to look up, an object attracted uished the outlines of a large bird I knew it to be the obscene bird of the plains, the buzzard vulture Whence had it come? Who knows? Far beyond the reach of huhtered antelopes; and, on broad, silent as now descending to the feast of death Presently another, and another, andand wheeling silently earthward Then the fore around for a moment, flapped off toward its prey In a few seconds, the prairie was black with filthy birds, who claainst each other, while they tore out the eyes of the quarry with their fetid beaks And now ca out of the cactus thicket; and loping, coward-like, over the green swells of the prairie These, after a battle, drove away the vultures, and tore up the prey, all the while growling and snapping vengefully at each other ”Thank heaven! I shall at least be saved from this”