News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-02-04
- = :.
A TROOP OF WILD HORSES.
One of the Grandest Sights Ever Wit
messed.

had camped near the forks Of the
| Platte, and was aroused Just at daylight
| by footsteps around me- After listening
| for moment, l felt sure that they were
| the footsteps of horses. They seemed
| to be circling around me-not at a can
| ter nor at trot, but at moderate
walk. 1t was well that | had SECURED
my horse in thorough manner, for I
never saw him so excited. He tugged
and pulled at his lariat, stood up on his
hind legs, neighed and snorted, paved
and pranced, and it was his actions that
gave me q clue to the identity of my
| visitors.
They were wild horses
Had they been Indian ponies, my
trained horse would have remained as
dumb and silent as post. Indeed, In
dians would not have approached me in
that manner.
l remained very quiet, hoping the
horses would remain in sight until day
light should give me a good view of
them. l had to wait for full hour;
but when the light grew strong, the
spectacle was one to make
mans blood tingle. The circle had
been enlarged until it was half 3 mile
across; and my little camp was the cen
ter. Every horse, and there were 1919
of them, stood with his head to this
center, and soldiers could not have
taken positions on the skirmish line in a
more precise order.
l pitied my own animal. He stood
with the lariat drawn tait, and tTeni-
bled in every limb, and he was as wet
with sweat as if I had galloped him
twenty miles. l realized how he must
long to break away and join the wild
rovers, and forever end his drudgery.
dared not rise to my feet for fear of
alarming the drove, but, nevertheless; I
had a clear view of each horse. Most
of them were magnificent animals.
Names down On their shoulders and tails
on the grass. They were of various
colors, and they ranged in age from the
yearling colt to the veterans twenty
years old. The bays predominated, but
every color was present.
We had been observing each other
about ten minutes, when jet-black
stall ion, who was the leader of the herd,
gave snort, threw up his heels into the
by the drove in single file. They ran in
IluS .CICISj dlIu Iucy hd1e the circuit
five times before stopping. Then, at
another signal from the leader, the circle
broke and the horses wheeled into
long single line, or company front"
Troop horses could not have done
better. l thought at first that the line
meant to charge me, but at signal it
made left wheel and galloped straight
off on the plain for a mile. Then it
broke, assumed the shape of triangle,
and returned. When the leader was
within pistol shot he wheeled about and
the horses formed in square, with the
four yearlings in the center They gal
loped off for q mile, broke again, and
returned in two ranks.
had an almost irresistible desire to
kill the leader with a bullet. Indeed, I
reached for my rifle with that intent,
but then came the reflection that It
would be little short of murder. Such
another perfect horse had never seen.
His black coat shone like silk, his limbs
and body were perfection, and he had
the speed and bottom of a race horse.
Not halt was made for a full hour, and
then it was only preparatory to taking
swift departure. The last manuevre
was circle at q slow trot, and each
horse whinnied in a coaXing manner to
my own steed. Poor Selim! He strug-
gled in the most frantic manner to break
loose, and when finding all his efforts of
no avail, he threw himself down on the
grass and actually groaned his disap-
pointment.
Irose up then and waved my blanket.
Instead of rushing off in alright, as 1
expected, the leader of the band DELHI
erately approached me few rods and
stood and snorted and paved as if send
ing forth challenge. Then I set up a
shouting, waved the blanket some more,
and he took his place at the head,
formed the band at company 'front.'
and they went off at a gallop, and MAIN
tanned it as long as I could see the wav-
ing line.-Detr0it Free Press.