hence in their own homes
in the old land.

Just as they were leaving in the early morning the bells of St. Boniface
rang out their silvery notes. These are the bells, the first out there
on the lonely prairies, that Whittier has made famous by his beautiful
poem:

"The voyageur smiles as he listens
To the sound that grows apace;
Well he knows the vesper ringing
Of the bells of St. Boniface--

"The bells of the Roman Mission
That call from their turrets twain
To the boatmen on the river,
To the hunter on the plain!

"Even so in our mortal journey
The bitter north winds blow,
And thus upon life's Red River
Our hearts as oarsmen row."

As some officials of the Hudson Bay Company went along with the large
brigade, our young folks had some capital company. After a few days the
trip lost much of its excitement and interest. The prairies, beautiful
as they at first looked, became somewhat monotonous. Every little
lake--and they passed many--was greeted with pleasure. As the horses
could travel faster than the oxen, sometimes Baptiste would hurry on
ahead to some well-known lake full of wild ducks, and here the boys and
their friends would have some capital shooting, which largely and
agreeably added to the food supply.

When out about a week they were told by some of the outriders, who came
galloping up from the front, that a herd of buffalo was not far distant,
and that some Sioux Indians were preparing to run them. Saddles were at
once put on some of the relay horses, and Frank, Alec, and Sam, and some
of their comrades, at once set off to the front to see the exciting
sport. They fortunately reached a high swell in the prairie just in
time to have a splendid view of the whole affair. The buffaloes
numbered about six or eight hundred. Attacking them were perhaps fifty
or sixty of the finest horsemen in the world. Their horses were trained
buffalo runners, and entered into the mad, wild sport with all the
enthusiasm of the riders. All the saddle these riders had was a small
piece of buffalo robe so securely fastened on that it could not slip.
There was neither halter nor bride on their horses' heads. One end of a
long lariat was fastened loosely around their necks, while the rest of
it dragged along the ground.

The Indians availed themselves of a great swell in the prairies, and so
were able to get quite close to the herd ere they were discovered. Very
few of these warriors