the mustang, trained as he was to this sort of hunting, steadily drew up again to the buffalo, which was plunging forward with unabated speed, while ned held his rifle ready to fire whenever the critical moment should come. he concluded that the proper place at which to aim was the head, and, drawing his gun to his shoulder, he did not hesitate, although he knew the aim was anything but a good one. it struck the bison beyond all question, but did no more than irritate him; for, without any other warning than a sudden lowering of the head, he wheeled, and turned directly upon the horse, with the evident purpose of disemboweling him.
but the latter had seen this sort of business before, and was prepared for it.
without attempting to turn to the one side or the other, or to check his speed in the least, he made a terrific flying leap upward, going clear over the head of the buffalo, landing upon the other side, and continuing his flight at his leisure, as it may be said.
this was a clever trick of the mustang, but it proved the undoing of his rider, who had no other saddle than the indian blanket strapped to the horse's back. this was good enough, except in such a sudden emergency as the present, when ned was entirely unprepared for it. it was done in a twinkling, the end of it being that he found himself lying upon the green sward of the prairie, considerably bruised, and with horse and buffalo rapidly speeding from view.
"this is a go," said the lad, rising to his feet and looking about him. "i don't see where the fun of buffalo hunting comes in."
during the minutes of excitement when the mustang was coursing with such speed over the prairie, the rider had no idea of the direction taken, nor could he conjecture how far he had gone; but the result was that he was separated by a much greater distance than he supposed from his friends. ned stood and gazed carefully about him. off to the west were the dust, and thousands upon thousands of buffaloes. the latter were too far removed to be distinguished, but that tramping and the heavy cloud indicated where the mass of life was plunging tumultuously forward toward some destination unknown even to themselves. nothing was to be seen of the hunters. they had sent the lad off on this hunt on purpose to give him a taste of buffalo hunting, not supposing, of course, that any accident would result.
"what shall i do?" was the question the boy asked himself, as he stood, rifle in hand, and looked around him. "if there was some way in which i could get a good supper, i wouldn't mind this camping out, for tom and dick will be sure to find me in the morning."
looking toward the north, he fancied that he dimly discerned the dark outline of something which resembled a grove of trees, and he turned his footsteps in that direction.
"if they are trees," he reflected, as he trudged along, "it's more than likely there's water there, and now that i've got a gun, i've some chance of shooting something; and that reminds me of poor corporal hugg's warning, always to reload my gun the first thing after firing it."
he had enough sense to carry out this resolution on the spot, and then he resumed his journey in the direction of the object that had attracted his attention. a short distance further he was pleased to find his first impression correct. he was approaching a clump of trees where he could rest with a much greater sense of security than upon the open prairie. thoroughly weary and worn out, faint with hunger, he felt like throwing himself upon the ground and sleeping for a week. but, continuing, he entered a grove of trees something like a hundred yards in extent, through which, in the stillness of the night, he caught distinctly the ripple of flowing water. it required but a moment to discover this and he lay down upon the margin, quaffed his full and flung himself upon the grass to sleep until morning. five minutes after his eyes were shut he was wrapped in a sound slumber which remained undisturbed until morning when, as he opened his eyes, he found the sun shining through the branches upon him.
"gracious!" he exclaimed, starting up. "where am i?"
it took several minutes before he could collect his senses and tell where he was; and then as he recalled the separation from his friends, he hurried out to the edge of the wood in the hope of discovering them somewhere near at hand; but, look in whatsoever direction he chose, nothing was to be seen but the broad sweeping prairie, stretching away until sky and earth joined in the distance. far off, low down in the horizon, the blue wavy outline of a mountain spur was to be seen. miles and miles away, it would probably require days of traveling before it could be reached.
"that's strange!" murmured ned, as a feeling of alarm began stealing over him. "where can tom and dick be? they must be somewhere in this neighborhood, and yet i cannot see any signs of them."
he moved around the grove, carefully gazing in every direction; but after making the complete circuit he came back without having detected anything that told him what had become of his friends.
the grove in which he had taken shelter abounded with undergrowth, so dense in many places, that he made his way with considerable difficulty. he had no thought of any one else being in the same place, but, while moving along in his careless manner, he was aroused to a sense of imprudence by the sound of something on his right. turning his head, his surprise may be imagined when he saw a solitary buffalo standing scarcely a dozen feet distant, and staring straight at him. ned was so astonished that for the moment he forgot that he carried a loaded gun, and stared at the creature in turn, the two forming as striking a tableau as it is possible to imagine.
the buffalo may have known the capacity of the weapon which the boy carried in his hand, for, with a sniff of alarm, he wheeled and started away on a run. as quick as thought the lad seemed to awake to a sense of his situation, and, raising his gun, he blazed away.
the shot, fired at random, could not have been better aimed by the most veteran of hunters. the ball entered directly behind the fore-leg just as it was thrown forward in the act of running, and, penetrating to the heart, the result was that the animal never made another bound. his own momentum carried him a few feet forward, when he tumbled and rolled over in a heap.
"now i'll have a meal!" exclaimed the delighted lad, as he ran forward to claim his prize. "i feel as if i could eat the whole buffalo."
there seemed to be no reason why he should not provide himself with the most substantial kind of dinner. he knew very little about a buffalo, but it was no difficult task to cut off a good sized piece, which he placed upon some green leaves, while he looked about for some means of starting a fire.
"well, there!" he exclaimed in delighted amazement, "if that isn't the most wonderful thing yet!"
this exclamation was caused by the sight of a smoking wad lying at his very feet, just as if providence had sent it that he might be provided with the indispensable fire. picking it up and blowing it, he saw that it was in a vigorous state, and could be utilized without trouble. a few leaves were hurriedly gathered together, dried twigs placed upon these, and then the tiny blaze that required considerable blowing to produce, was carefully nursed into a larger one until a good roaring, crackling fire was the result.
leaving this to burn by itself, ned took the meat to the side of the stream, where he carefully washed and dressed it, ready for cooking. when this was completed, he skewered it upon some green twigs, and began toasting it. the process was rather tardy, but as soon as a bite of the meat had spluttered and crisped for a moment, ned bit it off, and went to masticating it. the cooking continued rapidly enough to keep his jaws going, and was a good arrangement, for it prevented his eating too fast, and gave him the fullest enjoyment imaginable of the meal. all of an hour was occupied in this way, during which ned was in as happy a frame of mind as can be conceived. for the first half of the time he seemed to be growing more hungry with each mouthful he swallowed. then came a standstill, and soon he began to gain upon it, the end being that he thoroughly satisfied that appetite which at one time had seemed unappeasable. with no further necessity of thinking of the wants of the inner man, the lad began to debate as to what he should do to get out of the rather unpleasant position in which he was placed. there he was, his horse gone, his two friends missing, and himself still a long distance from home. he knew not in what direction to turn to reach fort havens, and, even if he did, he had little assurance of ever reaching it. indeed, with the exception of the rather important fact that he had secured possession of a rifle and some ammunition, it may be said that his position was very similar to what it was before he came across dick morris and tom hardynge.
