opinion that the herd was bound for the waters of the Republican Fork,
to the right and somewhat to the northward of the party. The best
course for them to take now would be to try and cut off the animals
before they could reach the river. There was a steep and bluffy bank
at the point for which the buffalo seemed to be aiming; that would
divert them further up stream, and if the hunters could only creep
along in the low gullies of the prairie, out of the sight of the herd,
they might reach the place where the buffalo would cross before they
could get there; for the herd moved slowly; an expert walker could far
out-travel them in a direct line.

"One of you boys will have to stay here by the stuff; the rest of us
will press on in the direction of the river as fast as may be," said
Uncle Aleck. The boys looked at each other in dismay. Who would be
willing to be left behind in a chase so exciting as this? Sandy
bravely solved the puzzle.

"Here, you take my shot-gun, Charlie," he said. "It carries farther
than yours; I'll stay by the stuff and the horses; I'm pretty tired,
anyhow." His father smiled approvingly, but said nothing. He knew how
great a sacrifice the boy was making for the others.

Left alone on the hill-top, for the rest of the party moved silently
and swiftly away to the northward, Sandy felt the bitterness of
disappointment as well as of loneliness while he sat on the grass
watching with absorbed attention the motions of the great herds. All
trace of his companions was soon lost as they passed down into the
gullies and ravines that broke the ground adjacent to the Fork to the
westward of the stream. Once, indeed, he saw the figures of the
hunters, painted dark against the sky, rise over a distant swell and
disappear just as one of them turned and waved a signal in dumb show
to the solitary watcher on the hill.

"If those buffalo should get stampeded," mused Sandy, "and make a
break in this way, it would be 'all day' with those horses and the
camp stuff. I guess I had better make all fast, for there may be a
gale of wind, or a gale of buffalo, which is the same thing." So
saying, the thoughtful lad led the animals down into the gully where
the noon luncheon had been taken, removed their packs, tethered them
to the tree, and then ran back to the hill-top and resumed his watch.

There was no change in the situation except that there were, if
possible, more buffalo moving over the distant slopes of the