ht be--Shannon, Gass, the
two Fields boys, others of the better hunters of the Kentuckians. Even
York, not to be denied, sneaked in at the rear. They all rode quietly
at first, with no outcry, no sound save the steady tramp of the
horses.

Their course was laid back into the prairie for a mile or two before a
halt was called. Then the chief disposed his forces. The herd was
supposed to be not far away, beyond a low rim of hills. On this side
the men were ranged in line. A blanket waved from a point visible to
all was to be the signal for the charge.

Dorion, also stripped to the waist, a kerchief bound about his head,
carrying a short carbine against his thigh, now rode alongside.

"He say Weucha show you how Sioux can ride," he interpreted.

"Tell him it is good, Dorion," rejoined Lewis. "We will show him also
that we can ride!"

A shout came from the far edge of the restless ranks. A half-naked
rider waved a blanket. With shrill shouts the entire line broke at top
speed for the ridge.

Neither of the two young Americans had ever engaged in the sport of
running the buffalo; yet now the excitement of the scene caused both
to forget all else. They urged on their horses, mingling with the
savage riders.

The buffalo had been feeding less than a quarter of a mile away; the
wind was favorable, and they had not yet got scent of the approach;
but now, as the line of horsemen broke across the crest, the herd
streamed out and away from them--crude, huge, formless creatures, with
shaggy heads held low, their vast bulk making them seem almost like
prehistoric things. The dust of their going arose in a blinding cloud,
the thunder of their hoofs left inaudible even the shrill cries of the
riding warriors as they closed in.

The chase passed outward into an open plain, which lay white in
alkali. In a few moments the swift horses had carried the best of the
riders deep into the dust-cloud which arose. Each man followed some
chosen animal, doing his best to keep it in sight as the herd plowed
onward in the biting dust.

Here and there the vast, solid surface of a sea of rolling backs could
be glimpsed; again an opening into it might be seen close at hand. It
was bold work, and any who engaged in it took his chances.

Lewis found his horse, the black runner that Weucha had given him, as
swift as the best, and able to lay him promptly alongside his quarry.
At a distance of a few feet he drew back the sinewy string of the
t