Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1908-11-13

vanished. while the rim Of the full
moon rose above the horizon. Inc
pony | was on could barely hold Its
own. after getting up within sixty OF
seventy yards Of the wounded Dull;
nv companion. better mounted torgeu
ahead. a little to one side. The pul
saw him coming and swerved from MS
course. and by cutting across | was
able to get nearly up to him. Inc
ground over which we were running
was fearful, being broken into holes
and bitches. separated by hillocks; IN
the dull light. and at the speed we
were going, no attempt could be made
to guide the horses, and the latter
tagged out by their exertions. founder
ed and pitched forward at every stride
hardly keeping their legs. When up
within twenty feet fred my rife. but
the darkness. and especially the vio-
lent. labored motion of my pony, made
me miss, tried to get in closer. when
suddenly up went the bulls tail, ana
wheeling, he charged me with lowered
horns Ny pony, frightened into mo-
mentary activity. spun round and
tossed up his head; | was holding the
rife in both hands. and the ponys
head. striking 1t, knocked 1t violently
against my forehead. cutting quite
cash, from which. heated as l was
the blood poured into my eyes. Mean
while the buffalo, passing me. charged
my companion. and followed him as
he made off, and as the ground was
very bad. for some little distance his
lowered head was unpleasantly near
the tired ponys tail. | tried to run in
on him again. but my pony stopped
short. dead beat: and by no spurring
could force him out of slow trot.
NY companion jumped Off and took
couple of shots at the buffalo. which
missed In the dim moonlight; and to
our unutterable chagrin the wounded
bull labored Off and vanished In the
darkness | made after him on foot,
in hopeless and helpless wrath. until
he got out of sight
So far the trip had certainly not been
a success. although sufficiently varied
as regards its incidents; we had been
confined to moist biscuits for three
days as our food; had been wet and
cold at night. and sunburned till our
faces peeled In the day; were hungry
and tired, and had met with bad wealth
err and all kinds Of accidents; In ad-
dltion to which I had shot badly. But
a man who is fond Of sport, and yet Is
not naturally a good hunter, soon learns
that II he wishes any success at all he
must both keep In memory and put in
practice Anthony Trollope's famous
precept: ITS dogged as does it." And
II he keeps 4, ,ggedly on in his course
the odds are heavy that In the end the
longest lane will prove to have turn
Ing. Such was the case on this occa-
sion.
Shortly after midday we left the
creek bottom. and skirsed ridge OF
broken buttes, cut up by gullies asd
winding ravlnes, In whose bottoms
grew bunch grass. While passing near
the mouth. and to leeward Of one Of
these ravines, both ponies threw up
their heads, and snuffed the air. turn
ing their muzzles towards the head Of
the gully. Feeling sure that they had
smelt some wild beast. either bear or
buffalo, | slipped Off my pony, and
ran quickly but cautiously up along
the valley. Before | had gone a hun
dred yards, noticed In the soft soil at
the bottom the round prints of blson's
hoofs; and Immediately afterwards got
a glimpse OF the animal himself, as he
fed slowly up the course of the ravine
some distance ahead OF me. The wind
was Just right. and no ground could
have been better for stalking Hardly
needing TO bend down. | walked up be-
hind small sharp-crested hlllock, and
peepIng over. there below me, not If
ty yards Off, was n great bison bull.
He was walking along, grazing as he
walked. His glossy fall coat was In
fine trim, and shone In the rays OF the
sun; while his pride OF bearing showed
him TO be in the lusty vlgor OF his
prime.
AS | rose above the crest OF the hill,
he held up his head and cooked his
tail In the air. Before he could go Off,
put the bullet In behind his shoulder.
The wound was an almost immediate
ly fatal one, yet with surprising agility
for 80 large and heavy an animal. he