las, when would impulsive youth
ever listen to wise counsel and take heed! I entered the ruins and saw
a dark telltale pool oozing forth from under the door of a cellar. Oh,
had I but then overcome my morbid curiosity and fled! But no! I must
needs open the door and look in. I saw--I saw a beautiful whiskey
barrel, its belly bursted and its head stove in!

The trip across the plains was a very healthful and pleasant experience
to me. During the greatest heat and while the moon favored us, we often
traveled at night and rested in daytime. By foregoing my rest, I found
opportunity to hunt antelope and smaller game. I was very fond of this
sport and indulged in it frequently. One day I sighted a band of
antelope--these most beautiful and graceful animals. I tried to head
them off, in order to get within rifle-shot distance, and drifted
farther and farther away from camp until I must have strayed at least
five miles. Like a rebounding rubber ball, their four feet striking the
ground simultaneously, they fled until at last they faded from sight on
the horizon, engulfed in a shimmering wave of heat, the reflection from
a sun-scorched ground. Reluctantly I gave up the chase, as I could by
no means approach the game, although they could not have winded me.

In order to determine the direction of our camp, I ascended a little
hill, when I suddenly espied an Indian. He was in a sitting posture,
less than a quarter of a mile away. Apparently he was stark naked and
his face was turned away from me, for I saw his broad back where not
covered by his long hair glisten in the hot rays of the sun. His gun
was lying within reach of his right hand, but I could not see what he
was doing. On the impulse of the moment I dropped behind a flowering
cactus for concealment. Then I took counsel with myself and decided
that it would be too risky to return to camp as I had intended to do.
In that direction for a long distance the ground was gently rising and
most likely the Indian would have seen me. I thought it probable that
he had staked his horse out in some nearby gulch, and if seen I would
have been at his mercy, as perhaps he was also in touch with other
Indians of his tribe. I reasoned that I could not afford to make the
mistake of incurring the risk to stake my life on the chance of
escaping his observation. I had started out to hunt antelopes, but now
I coolly prepared myself to stalk an Indian warrior instead. I went
about it as if I we