ost exhausted with fatigue, still stuck to the back of his
equally plucky pony. Death was imminent for them both. As the mad rush
continued, every flash displayed heaps of bison in death struggle under
the hoofs of their companions.

From time to time Antoine crossed himself and whispered a prayer to the
Virgin; and again he spoke to his horse after the fashion of an Indian:

"Be brave, be strong, my horse! If we survive this trial, you shall have
great honor!"

The stampede continued until they reached the bottom lands, and, like
a rushing stream, their course was turned aside by the steep bank of
a creek or small river. Then they moved more slowly in wide sweeps or
circles, until the storm ceased, and the exhausted hunter, still in his
saddle, took some snatches of sleep.

When he awoke and looked about him again it was morning. The herd had
entered the strip of timber which lay on both sides of the river, and
it was here that Antoine conceived his first distinct hope of saving
himself.

"Waw, waw, waw!" was the hoarse cry that came to his ears, apparently
from a human being in distress. Antoine strained his eyes and craned his
neck to see who it could be. Through an opening in the branches ahead he
perceived a large grizzly bear, lying along an inclined limb and hugging
it desperately to maintain his position. The herd had now thoroughly
pervaded the timber, and the bear was likewise hemmed in. He had taken
to his unaccustomed refuge after making a brave stand against several
bulls, one of which lay dead near by, while he himself was bleeding from
many wounds.

Antoine had been assiduously looking for a friendly tree, by means of
which he hoped to effect his escape from captivity by the army of bison.
His horse, by chance, made his way directly under the very box-elder
that was sustaining the bear and there was a convenient branch just
within his reach. The Bois Brule was not then in an aggressive mood,
and he saw at a glance that the occupant of the tree would not interfere
with him. They were, in fact, companions in distress. Antoine tried
to give a war-whoop as he sprang desperately from the pony's back and
seized the cross limb with both his hands.

The hunter dangled in the air for a minute that to him seemed a year.
Then he gathered up all the strength that was in him, and with one grand
effort he pulled himself up on the limb.

If he had failed in this, he would have fallen to the ground under the
ho