Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-10-28

What in that?

TaRIllnxG PRAIRIE IxClDEST.
What il thst7
Look closer and you will see that Is IL
i gaunt, grim wolf, creeping out Of the
little grove of cottonwood toward buf-
fsio calf garnboliag around its mother.
Raise yoar eyes little more and you
will zee that the prairie beyond it is alive
with budaio. Count them, You might
as we'll try to count the leaves OF great
maple. They are moving foot by foot
as they crop the juicy grass, and living
waves rise and fall as the herd slowly
sweep on. Altar out to the right and
left, mere specks on the plain, arc the
| tiankers. brave old buffaloes, which catch
a bite of grass and then suid the air
and scan the horizon for limitations OF
danger. They are the trusty sentinels
OF the herd, and right well Trey can be
| trusted.
The wolf creeps nearer.
All the afternoon the great herd has
| fed in peace, and, as il slowly moves
toward the distant river, it Is all uncsn-
| scio1s that danger is near. Look you
we'll and watch the wolf, for you are
going ere Icing to see such sight as
70. one man In ten thousand has ever
bsheld.
Creep-crawi-skulk - now behind a
knoll-now drawing himself over the
| grass-now raising his head above a
| thistle to mark the locality OF his VIC
tim. 1t is a lone, stumbling. skuikIng
wolf, lame and spitefui and treacherous
| Wounded or ailing, he has been left
to get along az best he may; and his
green eyes light up with fiercer blaze
40 he draws nearer to his unconscious
prey.
Creep-creep-creep. Now he is TWEEN
| ty feet away - now fifteen--nov ten.
He hugs the earth. gathers his feet un-
der him, and bounds through the air as
il shot from a gun. He is rolling the
calf over aud over on the grass in three
seconds after he springs.
Now watch!
A DRY of pain from the GALA below
from the mother a. she wheels and
charges ihs VOLTA startled movement
from . dozen of the nearest animals,
and rush begins. The oze wolf is
,nagnified into hundred, the hundred
into thousand. Sharp, short bellows
| notes Of alarm-and in fifty seconds
| after the wolf has wet his fangs with
the blood of the calf, that living mass
is in motion to get away from an un-
known terror.
| The waves rise higher and higher as
the confusion spreads. One instant 1t
| seems as IL ten thousand solid acres of
prairie were moving bodily away; again
waves rise and fall as the towards be-
hind rash upon those in font, who
want IL sniff the air and learn the dan
/ go he 10 do,
the herd to the leaders, and further than
the eye can see the entire herd Is going
OF at mad gallop, heads down, eyes
oape. II Lake Erie we're to dash itself
against q wall. the shock would be no
| greater than the awful crash with which
and hairy bodies would meet it. The
clatter of hoOfs and rattle of horns
would drown the noise Of a brigade
Of cavalry galloping over a stone paved
road.
Rids out on their trail. Here where
the stampede began the ground is torn
and furrowed az II thousand oannons
had been firing solid shot at targets.
Here and there are calves which have
been Rored or crushed, here and there
older animals with broken legs and dis
ablinR wounds. Here, where the herd
was fairly of, you might a. we'll hunt
for . geld dollar a. q blade of Rrass.
You look for three miles a. you look
across it. Il il a trail Of dirt and dust
and ruts and burrows, where half an
hour ago wa q carpet of green grass and
smiling flowers. The most dreadful cy-
clone known to man could not have left
L NnnPo hnYPihla hAhiv.A
Miles away, on the bank of q winding
and growing river, are three white
topped emigrant wagons. A camp fire
blazss up to boil the kettles. Men, w0-
men and children stand about, peeriug
over the distant mountains 1t the setting
sun, and glad that their journey il al
most done. Butterflies come aud 90 on
lazy wing, the oriokets chirp cheerily in
the grass, and the eagles sailing in
the blue evening air have no warning
to give.
Hark! Ia that thunder?
Men and women turn in their tracks
az they look in vain for cloud in the
sky. That ramble comes again AZ they
look into each others faces. II grows
louder as women turn pale and men
reach for their trusty rifles. The ground
trembles, and afar of comes din which
strikes terror to the heart. "Indiausr'
they Whisper. No! A thousand times
bettec for them il savage Pawnees
dared ride down where those barrelsd
rifles could speak in defense of the
peaceful camp.
"a stampede Of buffaioesr' gaspa ono
of the men Ne he catches sight of the
advance guard under the awful cloud Of
dust. Rifles are held ready for a shot,
and the children climb ap on the heavy
wagon wheels to SEQ the strange proces-
sion gslloP past.
Here they comel Cracki crack! crack!
from three rifles. and = shout a. each
bullet tells. Next instant shaggy head,
followed BY dust-br0wn body, rushes
through the camp. Then another and
another. The men shout and wave
their arms, the women and children turn
paler Yet.
The roar aud din shut out every other
sound, and the wagons jar and tremble
With the concussion. Nov another shay
~ headl anOthsri half doSsul score!
. hundredl great living wave = b ,h
sweeps along With the peWer Of lorna
do, Followed By others more fierce and
strong. and the camp 10 blottod Oh the
| f.oe Of the earth more completely than
By any power Of heaven. Nothiae to DO
ssea, no shout 70 b hsardl Wave fol-
lowed wavo aeroeD the spot, over che
bank, into The stream and aceoes; and
vhsn the last Of the herd has passed,
the kesnsst hunter oan and nothing on
that spot Of wood. or iron, Of cloth, OF
bone. o. 0ssh. 10 prove that . dozen men.
vomon a1d ohildrsu we're thtrs wipod
cut Ct skisosnss and reduced 70 shreds
and duDt.