peaking, the bisons which young
Marston's sharp eye had discovered, were still so far-distant that they
appeared like crows or little black specks against the sky. In order to
approach them as near as possible without attracting their attention, it
was necessary that the two horsemen should make a wide circuit, so as to
get well to leeward, lest the wind should carry the scent of them to the
herd. Their horses, being fleet, strong, and fresh, soon carried them
to the proper direction, when they wheeled to the right, and galloped
straight down upon their quarry, without any further attempt at
concealment. The formation of the ground favoured their approach, so
that they were within a mile of the herd before being discovered.

At first the huge, hairy creatures gazed at the hunters in stupid
surprise; then they turned and fled. They appeared, at the outset, to
run slowly and with difficulty, and the plain seemed to thunder with
their heavy tread, for there could not have been fewer than a thousand
animals in the herd. But as the horsemen drew near they increased their
speed and put the steeds, fleet and strong though they were, to their
mettle.

On approaching the buffaloes the horsemen separated, each fixing his
attention on a particularly fat young cow and pressing towards it.
Bounce was successful in coming up with the one he had selected, and put
a ball through its heart at the first shot. Not so Marston. Misfortune
awaited him. Having come close up with the animal he meant to shoot, he
cocked his rifle and held it in readiness across the pommel of his
saddle, at the same time urging his horse nearer, in order to make a
sure shot. When the horse had run up so close that its head was in line
with the buffalo's flank, he pointed his rifle at its shoulder. At that
precise moment the horse, whose attention was entirely engrossed with
the buffalo, put its left forefoot into a badger's hole. The
consequence of such an accident is, usually, a tremendous flight through
the air on the part of the rider, while his steed rolls upon the plain;
but on the present occasion a still more surprising result followed.
March Marston not only performed the aerial flight, but he alighted with
considerable violence on the back of the affrighted buffalo. Falling on
his face in a sprawling manner, he chanced to grasp the hairy mane of
the creature with both hands, and, with a violent half-involuntary
effort, succeeded in seating