s
in which all vestiges of the Fall seemed to have been obliterated, and
Eden itself again appeared blooming in its pristine beauty.

Still those sounds, growing more and more distinct, were not sounds of
peace, were not eolian warblings; they were mutterings as of a rising
tempest, and inspired awe and a sense of peril. Straining their eyes
toward the far-distant west, whence the sounds came, they soon saw an
immense black cloud just emerging from the horizon and apparently very
low down, sweeping the very surface of the prairie. This strange,
menacing cloud was approaching with manifestly great rapidity. It was
coming directly toward the grove where the travellers were sheltered. A
cloud of dust accompanied the phenomenon, ever growing thicker and
rising higher in the air.

"What can that all mean?" exclaimed Crockett, in evident alarm.

The juggler sprang to his feet, saying, "Burn my old shoes if I know."

Even the mustangs, which were grazing near by, were frightened They
stopped eating, pricked up their ears, and gazed in terror upon the
approaching danger. It was then supposed that the black cloud, with its
muttered thunderings, must be one of those terrible tornadoes which
occasionally swept the region, bearing down everything before it. The
men all rushed for the protection of the mustangs. In the greatest
haste they struck off their hobbles and led them into the grove for
shelter.

The noise grew louder and louder, and they had scarcely brought the
horses beneath the protection of the trees, when they perceived that it
was an immense herd of buffaloes, of countless hundreds, dishing along
with the speed of the wind, and bellowing and roaring in tones as
appalling as if a band of demons were flying and shrieking in terror
before some avenging arm.

The herd seemed to fill the horizon. Their numbers could not be
counted. They were all driven by some common impulse of terror. In
their head-long plunge, those in front pressed on by the innumerable
throng behind, it was manifest that no ordinary obstacle would in the
slightest degree retard their rush. The spectacle was sublime and
terrible. Had the travellers been upon the open plain, it seemed
inevitable that they must have been trampled down and crushed out of
every semblance of humanity by these thousands of hard hoofs.

But it so chanced that they were upon what is called a rolling prairie,
with its graceful undulations and gentle eminences. It was one