n. Dick had a horse which,
on becoming foot-sore, had been allowed to rest for a few days,
and was now well. He mounted it and galloped on ahead. The
clouds were all gone away and the golden visions had come back.
He felt so strong, so young, and the wonderful air of the plains
was such a tonic that he urged his horse to a gallop, and it was
hard for him to keep from shouting aloud in joy. He looked
eagerly into the north, striving already for a sight of the dark
mountains that men called the Black Hills. The blue gave back
nothing but its own blue.

His horse seemed to share his spirits, and swung along with swift
and easy stride. Dick looked back presently, and saw that the
train which had been winding like a serpent over the plains was
lost to sight behind the swells. The surface of the earth had
become more rolling as they advanced northward, and he knew that
the train, though out of sight, was nor far away.

He enjoyed for the moment the complete absence of all human
beings save himself. To be alone then meant anything but
loneliness. He galloped to the crest of a higher swell than
usual, and then stopped short. Far off on the plain he saw tiny
moving figures, a dozen or so, and he was sure that they were
antelope. They had seen antelope before at a great distance, but
had not bothered about them. Now the instincts of the hunter
rose in Dick, and he resolved to make a trial of his skill.

He found in one of the depressions between the swells a stunted
cottonwood, to which he hitched his horse, knowing it would be
well hidden there from the observation of the herd. He then
advanced on foot. He had heard that the antelope was a slave to
its own curiosity, and through that weakness he intended to
secure his game.

When he had gone about half the distance he sank down on his
hands and knees and began to crawl, a laborious and sometimes
painful operation, burdened as he was with his rifle, and unused
to such methods of locomotion. Presently he noticed a flutter
among the antelope, a raising of timid heads, an alarmed looking
in his direction. But Dick was prepared. He lay flat upon his
face, and dug the point of the long hunting knife that he carried
into the ground, while the wind blew out the folds of the red
handkerchief which he had tied to the handle.

Mr. Big Buck Antelope, the chief of the herd and a wary veteran,
saw the waving red spot on the horizon and his interest was
aroused, desp