g an exciting ride, and, as good fortune would have it, the animal
was bearing him straight along the trail toward the camp in the Ozarks.

"If the baste will show enough consideration for me," thought the lad,
"to kape up his coorse for twinty miles or so, he will give me a good
lift toward raichin' the folks, though sorry I am that I haven't Fred
alongside or rather behind me."

The bull being on a run, his progress consisted of a series of quick
jumps, which jarred the rider so much that had he not kept a good grip
upon the shaggy mane, he would have been unseated. The hair of the
animal was so long that he was able to make his hold secure, though he
had a constant fear that he would stumble, in which case the rider was
sure to take a tremendous header that was likely to break his neck.

Terry could feel the throb, as it may be called, of the engine. His
position was such that his heels touched the body close to the shoulders
of the bull. At that point there was an alternate swelling and sinking
of the muscles, as the animal alighted on his feet and leaped away
again, which Terry felt as plainly as if he had held his open hand on
the shoulder. Then, too, the bull had a peculiar sidelong motion, as
though some of his muscles occasionally got out of "gear," and the
action of the hind legs did not "dovetail," so to speak, with that of
the fore legs.

Nothing escaped the eye of Terry during those exciting minutes. He
thought the head of the bull was held unusually low, but he noticed the
short, thick horns, curving outward and then coming over until they
ended within a few inches of each other, and he was sure that amid the
dusty frontispiece of the immense area of skull bone he could see where
his useless bullet had struck and glanced off; once or twice he caught a
whiff of the breath of the buffalo, redolent with the not unpleasant
odor of grass, and now and then he could hear his fierce snort. It
seemed to Terry that the animal turned his head partly to one side as if
to get a view of the strange creature on his back. Doubtless such was
the fact, and, after each sight, it seemed that he bounded away with
more terror than before.

Brief as was the time taken by the bull in galloping across the prairie,
it allowed Terry to see every thing. As soon as he felt sure of
retaining his seat, he glanced at the other animals, all of which were
galloping in the same direction as the bull. Some of them were so fleet
that the