Nevada County picayune., 1890-07-17
motionless at full length.

motionless at full length.
 'It seems to me-" said l, in a whisper to Frank, "that rattlesnakes must be the cause of this."
 "No," said he, II have heard it said that the prairie rattler cant kill buffalo, and even if they could, not as quick as these fellows have gone down anyhow. 1 never saw anything like that before in my life and l cant understand it.
 To solve the mystery we concluded to fire into that particular bunch, which would cause them to stampede up to the main nerd. We each selected a buffalo and fired. The one l had chosen was a magnificent spike bull. He fell the instant the gun cracked. The one which Frank shot at fled with his immediate con- panions. The alarm spread along the herd, and soon the vast body was laundering away to the south west, shaking the earth by their mighty tread.
 Followed by Frank l rushed up to my trophy in great glce. l put my foot on his massive neck, and felt proud of my achievement.
 Suddenly 1 looked back at Frank. He was standing stock still few feet behind me, staring at something beyond me, in a frightful manner. l turned to see what he was looking at, and my eyes instantly became as wide open as his were.
 There, at the other side of the dead animal. stood an Indian. He was at least seven feet tall, was en- tirely naked. except that he wore a strip of chamois around his Joins, and a quiver of arrows at his side.
 His eyes flashed wlckedly as he drew himself up to his full height, placed his foot on the buffalo, and, smiting himself on the bare breast, exclaimed in naughty and imperi- ous tone: Mine boof loo." :"
 Before the Indian had finished making his positive claim to the buf- faIo, we became painfully aware that he was not alone, but that not less than eight Indians. nearly as big and ugly as himself, had appeared on the scene as quickly and mysteriously as he had.
 l had no intention whatever of dis putting the red thcif's claim, and l knew Frank had not. took my foot off the dead buffalo. The ln- dian folded his arms and looked con temptuously at us, and then ex- claimed;
 "Tobacee"'
 We interpreted this to mean that the savage wanted tobacco. Simul- tancously each of Us produced big plug and reached it toward him. He took both plugs, bit a chew from one, and slowed them both away somewhere in his breech-cloth. Then, with wicked lcer, he waved his hands toward our white covered "prairie schooners, which could be plainly seen from where we were standing, and we interpreted this motion to mean that we had better go; and we went!
 The mystery of the strange actions of the buffaloes we had seen fall was now plain to us.
 The Indians were provided with complete disguise made of buffalo skins, and they were hiding in the tall broom weeds on tie edge of the herd, and were picking off the choicest of them with their noiseless and deadly arrows.
 We did not look back until we were half way to camp; then we saw the Indians squatted in an excited group upon the ground.
 "Thcy are gambling for our to- bacco," said Frank.
 We had several days of fine sport, hunting and killing the buffalo, and when all our wagons were loaded our Caravan made safe return to Dallas.
 have often thought of the way l shot and lost my first buffalo, and l have often congratulated myself since that l did not lose my scalp, and always wondered why that vil- famous red-skin happened to let me keep it. Delbert $. Twins, in Chi cago Ledger.
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