plover flew screaming over their
surface. Having failed of the antelope, Raymond tried his hand at the
birds with the same ill success. The water also disappointed us. Its
muddy margin was so beaten up by the crowd of buffalo that our timorous
animals were afraid to approach. So we turned away and moved toward the
hills. The rank grass, where it was not trampled down by the buffalo,
fairly swept our horses' necks.

Again we found the same execrable barren prairie offering no clew by
which to guide our way. As we drew near the hills an opening appeared,
through which the Indians must have gone if they had passed that way at
all. Slowly we began to ascend it. I felt the most dreary forebodings
of ill success, when on looking round I could discover neither dent of
hoof, nor footprint, nor trace of lodge-pole, though the passage was
encumbered by the ghastly skulls of buffalo. We heard thunder muttering;
a storm was coming on.

As we gained the top of the gap, the prospect beyond began to disclose
itself. First, we saw a long dark line of ragged clouds upon the
horizon, while above them rose the peak of the Medicine-Bow, the
vanguard of the Rocky Mountains; then little by little the plain came
into view, a vast green uniformity, forlorn and tenantless, though
Laramie Creek glistened in a waving line over its surface, without a
bush or a tree upon its banks. As yet, the round projecting shoulder of
a hill intercepted a part of the view. I rode in advance, when suddenly
I could distinguish a few dark spots on the prairie, along the bank of
the stream.

"Buffalo!" said I. Then a sudden hope flashed upon me, and eagerly and
anxiously I looked again.

"Horses!" exclaimed Raymond, with a tremendous oath, lashing his mule
forward as he spoke. More and more of the plain disclosed itself, and
in rapid succession more and more horses appeared, scattered along
the river bank, or feeding in bands over the prairie. Then, suddenly,
standing in a circle by the stream, swarming with their savage
inhabitants, we saw rising before us the tall lodges of the Ogallalla.
Never did the heart of wanderer more gladden at the sight of home than
did mine at the sight of those wild habitations!

CHAPTER XIV

THE OGALLALLA VILLAGE

Such a narrative as this is hardly the place for portraying the mental
features of the Indians. The same picture, slightly changed in shade and
coloring, would serve with very few exceptions for all the tribe