The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1855-03-28

horse. The latter shot out Instantly
to the full length Of the trail ropc-a
heavy "pluck" sounded in my ears,
and the next insts,t saw my horse
part from the tree, and scour off. over
the prairie. | had knottcd tn rope
ncgliyently upon the bit ring, and the
knot had come undonc.
as yet. My horse would no doubt
follow back his own trail, and at the
worst should only have to walk to
'hc camp. should have The >atisl;.c
ton of furnishing the buffalo for the
trick he had served me; aud with this
design, ! turned towards him, saw
that he had not followed the horse,
bu, was again hradi,y himself in my
direction. Now, Tor the first time, it
occurred to me that | was in some
Thing "t Il scrnrc. The bull WAS com
ing turiolsly y on. Should my shot
Mss, or even should il only wound
him, how wa, | to cscapc' knew
that he could ovrltakc me in three
minutes; knew that well.
| had not much time for reflection
not II momcnt-in fact the iniura.
ted animal was within ten PAGES of
me; raj ed my rifle, aimed at his
i'rrrShoudcr, and fired. saw that
had hit him, but, to my disinav, he
neither fell nor stumbled, but contn-
ned to charge forward more iurinusly
Il Il 4
My pistols had gone off with ny Horse
and holsters. Even to reach tie tree
Was imp ssib!r; the bull was between
it and me. Right in the opposite
direction was the only thing that held
out amy prospect of five minutes
safety. | t lrncd and ran. can run
as fast as most mcn-aud upon that
occasion | did my best. 1t would
have put GiIdcrsiecve into Il white
sweat to have distanccd mc-b It had
not been two minutes at it when felt
conscious that the buffalo gained upon
me, and was almost treading upon my
heels. | knew it only by my ears
/ da.ea. aotrsp pa re time. tn lnals hack.
nc tMs none ent: All # Object. f.appeafea
bef .re:ane ihat4pTomiscd, ,:1l'one wa33}a }or
anether, TO interrupt the chase; fitiwas
lasfli lasflitch orgully, that itlterseeteds my
ESaath atfight angles. Il vas several
~icet: fsdepih, drysat the bottom, and
witKpe'pendicular Sides | was sal
most tuppG:3&its edge beiorc,l noticed
ila bde tbesmoment jt came under rny
||ass, |fs, / SAW that ifofiered the means Qi
.a Temporary safety at $3east. III
could only leap this gully, | felt satis5
lied that the buffalo could not.&I 1t
}@as a.sharp leap--at least seventeen
feet from cheek to check; &bul.f had
done more than that in my time; and,
without hlItiny in, my gait, | ran for
ward 10 the edge and sprang over. !
'alishledTcleycrIy upon The opposite
banks where stopped, and turned
r"und to Watch my pursuer. | now
.asceftaf.eh how near my end had
been; the bull was already up to the
HSuhy;A had l'RnotS made my leap the
Instantly did. | should have been by
|Sthatstime dancing upon his shorns. ~ y
He himself had baulked at the lcaptE
the deepathasm IKE cleft had awcL
him..%
He saw that he conII not clear it.,
and nuw SO d upoa the Opposite
bank, with head lowcred,> and s1rc;l /
nos'rils, his tail ,lashins his smooth
TANKS, while: his glaring black eyes
expressed the full measure of his
baflied rage. remarked that my
Shot had taken effect III his shoulder,
rs the blood ,trickkd from his long
hair. had almost begun to congratn
hate myself on having4Aeseaped, when
hurried glance to the right, and Liam.
olher to the left cut short my happi.
ness, issaw that5on bo Ia sides, at n
distance ,Eof less than fifty PAGES, the
gully Swallowed out into the plain,
where>ib@sended: at either end at was,
of course, passablt. The bull ob.
served this almost at the same time
;as;,myseli; and suddenly urning away
from the brink, he ran along the ed ye
Of the chasm, evidently with the in
tention Of turning it. In less Than a
Hll'iuLc > Liillc we were once more ON
the same side, and my situation ap.
pearcd rs terrible as sever, but StGn
ping back for short run, relcaped
the ,chasm, and again We stood on
opposite SIDES.
During all these manruvrcs | had
,heIdron To my rifle and, seeing now
that might have time TO load it, ]
dmnenced feeling for my powder
horlr: To my .astonishment, j could
not lay my hands upon it.; / looked
down toimy breast, for the ,sling-it
was not there; belt and bGliet.p0nclr,
t1o--ails'w gone! relnambefed
lifting them over myihead, Ewkea .I!stC
about cutting thel dead bull, 4 Il hoy
we're; ymsg ing Ehs the ,eayc,ise. I. ssais.
eoverp; was;a new soGrresaf chIaesinb But b;ait
for ,mg,qeglisenoe II 3cmHd now have
nastefed my antagonist 20 reach
t''e ammunition would 9besimpnssihIc;
l;shopld be oycrtakynf fBefnre [ had
got halfway to'it.: 'Iwassnot allowed