Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-09-01
w ped Out-A Story of the Plains
detroit Free Press

Look closer and you will see that it is
gaunt, grim wolf, creeping out Of tie lit.
tie grove of cottonwoods towards buff
falo calf gambling around its mother.
Raise your eyes little more, and you
will see that the prairie beyond is alive
with buffalo. Count them. You might
as well try to count the leaves On q giant
maple! They are moving foot by foot as
they crop the juicy grass, and living
waves rise and fall IS the herd slowly
sweep on. Altar out TO right and left
mere specks on the plain-are the flank
ers brave old buffaloes, which catch
bite of grass, and then sniff the air and
scan the horizon for intimation of dam
ger. They are the sentinels OF the herd,
and right well can they be trusted.
The wolf creeps nearer
All the afternoon the great herd has fed
in peace, and as 1t now slowly moves 10.
ward the distant river it is all unconscious
that danger is near. Lock you well and
watch the wolf, for you are going to see
such sight as not one man in 10000 has
ever beheld.
Creep p crawl = skulk-now behind
knoll now drawing himself over t,
grass-now raising its head above this
tie to mark the locality of its victim. II
is lone, stumbling, skulking wolf, lame,
and spitetul, and treacherous. Wounded
or ailing, he has been left alone to get on
as best he may, and his green eyes light
up with iercer blaze as he draws nearer
and nearer TO his Unconscious prey.
There! No, he is yet too far away
Creep, creep, creep. Now he is twenty
feet away, now fifteen, now ten. He hugs
the earth, gathers his feet under him, and
he bounds through the air as if shot from
a gun. He is rolling the calf over and
over on the grass in three seconds alter he
springs
Now watch!
A cry of pain from the calf-a furious
below from the mother as she wheels
and charges the VOLTA startled move
ment from dozen OF the neares ST animals,
and rush begins. The one wolf is
magni1ed into hundred, the hundred
into thousand. Short, sharp bellows,
snorts OF alarm, rush, and in fifty
seconds after the wolf has wet his fangs
with blood, that living mass is IN motion
to get away from an unknown terror.
The waves rise higher and higher as the
confusion spreads. One instant it seems
as If 10000 solid acres of prairie were
moving bodily swsy-again waves rise
snd fall as the towards behind rush upon
those in front who wait to sniff the air
and learn the danger. Ia one minute the
alarm runs down the herd to the leaders
further than the eye can see, and the
entire herd is going eft at mad
gallop, head down, eyes rolling, and
no thought but that of escape. II
Lake Erie were to dash itself against
wall, the shock would be no greater tnan
the awful crash with which this mass OF
rafting boots, sharp horns, and hairy
bodies would meet it. The CHATTER OF
hoofs and rattle of horns would drown
the noise of brigade of cavalry gallop.
ing over stone-paved road.
Ride out on their trail. Here where
the stampede began the ground is torn
and furrowed as If thousand cannon
had been firing solid shot at targets. Here
and there are calves which have been
gOred or crushed-here and there Older
an mails with broken legs and (isabling
wounds. Here, where the herd was fair
ly Off, you might as we'll hunt for gold
dollar as a blade OF grass. You lock for
three miles as you look across it, 1t is
trail of dirt and dust, and ruts, and fur
rows, where half an hour ago was car
pet of green grass and smiling flowers.
The most dreadful cyclone known to
man could not have left more horrible
scars behind.
Miles away, on the banks of the wind.
ing, growing river, are three white-topped
emigrsnt-wagons. A camp fire blazas up
to boil the kettles,-men, women, and
children stand about, peering over the
setting sun at the distant mountains, and
glad that their journey Is almost done
Butterflies come and 60 on lazy wing, the
cricket chirp cheerily on the grass, and
the eagles sailing il the blue evening air
have no warning to give.
Halki Is that thunder
Men and women turn in their tracks as
they look in vain for cloud in the sky.
That rumble comes again, as they look
into each others faces. 1t grows louder
as women turn pale and men reach for
and afar off comes din which strikes
terror to the heart. "Indians!' they
whisper. No! A thousand times better
for them if savage Pawnee dared ride
down where these long barreled rifles
could speak a defense of the peaceful
camp.
"a stampede Of buffaloes!" gasps one
of the men as he catches sight OF the ad-
under the awful cloud of
dust. Rifles are ready for shot, and the
climb up on the heavy wagon
wheels to see the strange procession
gallon by.
Here they come! Crack crack! crack ! |
from three rifles, and a shout as each
bullet tells. Next instant shaggy head, |
followed by dust-browned body, rushed |
through the camp. Then another, and
another. The men shout and wave their |
arms; the women and children turn paler
yet.
The roar and din shut out every other
sound, and the wagons Jar and tremble
with the conclusion. Now another shaggy
head-ahother--halt-a ado zen-a score-a
hundred--a great wing wave VIII CD
sweeps along with power of tornado,
followed by others more fierce and strong,
and the camp is blotted off the face of the
earth more completely than by any power
IF Heaven Nothing to be seen-no shout
o be heard. Wave followed wave across
he spot-over the bank-into the stream
md across, and WHIT n the last of the herd
lad passed, the keenest hunter can find
nothing on that spot of wood or iron or