hat call that Deerfoot used
to bring the turkey to him?"

"No, but I know how to use the turkey after the same is brought to me.
If I should try the signal, it would scare all the turkeys and deer and
foxes and bears and wolves and beavers out of the country, which bein'
the same, I won't try it, principally because I don't know how to begin
to try it."

"My gracious, Terry; if you could shoot like you can talk, we wouldn't
have to wait long for something to eat."

"Whisht, Fred," whispered Terry, in some excitement; "the wood just
beyanst ye looks as if it wasn't any wood at all."

Fred Linden had noticed the peculiarity. The trees were becoming so
scarce and far apart that it was evident they were approaching some
extensive clearing where no trees grew at all. The next minute the two
stood on the edge of an immense prairie, which revealed a sight that
profoundly interested them.

CHAPTER XXVII.

A MORNING MEAL.

The two boys stood on the edge of a prairie which had a varying width of
from one to three miles. Looking to the right and the left, neither end
could be seen, so that there was no means of judging its length.

The trail led straight across to the wilderness on the other side, which
at that point was all of two miles distant. You can understand that
walking was so much easier on the open ground that any party of
travelers would hasten to take advantage of such a chance. The hoofs of
the half dozen horses had left such a distinct impression that the eye
could follow the trail a long ways from the margin of the woods.

This prairie was entirely covered with a growth of succulent grass. The
season was so late that it had lost most of its verdancy, but there was
an abundance of nutriment in the blades and it was splendid
feeding-ground--one of those breaks in the almost limitless forest of
which grazing animals were sure to take advantage.

The boys had paused only a minute or two, gazing out on the almost level
expanse, when Terry uttered an exclamation of delight and pointed to the
right. Looking in that direction (as Fred had done at the moment his
companion spoke), he saw a welcome sight indeed. A herd of buffaloes
were cropping the grass within gunshot of the young hunters.

As I have said in another place, there were no such droves as have
sometimes been seen on the vast prairies of the far west, numbering
fully a hundred thousand, though a century ago some amazing collections
of animal