Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1912-05-30


always
Hush" she whispered drawing her
h2r>e gently down 10 a walk and ina.
" to a p&u>e. "Loo& over there is
one ot the Wild ga2elleS,
| to.oWvd he direction IF her eyes
and saw pcrrjUg curiouSly down at us
from beyoud the TOP of Il little ridge
something ike hundred yards away
the head. horns and neck ct a prong
horu buck, standing facing us and
seeming NOT much thicker than knife
blade, Her keen eyes caught this first,
my own. fancy, being busy else
where. At once | slipped ont Of my
saddle ana freed the long. heavy rifle
from its sling | heard her voice, hard
now with eagerueSS | caught a
glance ut her face. brown between her
braidS She was n savage woman.
Quick she whispered. Hell run
Eager AS she, but deliberately.
raised the Ions barrel To line and
touched the trigger heard the thud
of the ball against the antelope'S shout
der aud had no doubt that We should
pick ii up dead. for il disappeared, APP
purently end over end, at the moment
of the shot, Springjug into the saddle,
| raced with my companion to the top
OF the ridge But, 10, there was the
antelope 2O0 yards away and going rs
fast ON three legs as our horses We're
on four
Ride" she called "Ilurryr And
she Spurred of at hreakneck speed in
pursuit, myself following.
We should perhaps have continued
this chase until one or the other of
the horses dropped, but now her horse
picked up n pebble and went some
what lame She pulled up and told me
to ride ON alone, After pause slow
ly approached the top of the next ridge
and there. as | more than half suspect,
ed, l saw the antelope lying down, its
head turned back. Eager to finish the
chase, sprang down, carelessly neg
lecting to throw the bride rein over
my horses head. Dropping fiat, rest
ed on my elbow and fired carefully
once more. This time the animal roll
ed over dead
Alas for our JOY OF victory Our
success was our undoing. The very
motion of my throwing up my hat,
boyish as it was. gave fright to my
horse. already startled by the shot. He
flung up his head high, snorted and
was off fast as he could go. follow
ID Ia al
he would none of that and was all for
keeping away from me at safe dis
lance. This the girl saw, and she rode
up now. Springing down and offering
me her horse.
Stay here" ! called to her as
mounted. I'm be back directly" And
then with such speed as | could spur
out of my new mount, | started again
after the fugitive.
1t was useless. Her horse, already
lame and weary, and further handi,
capped by my weight. could not close
with the free animal and without n
rope to aid me in the capture, it would
have been almost impossible to have
stopped him, even had | been able to
come alongside. gave up the chase
and returned to her.
II was afraid. she painted Il fol
lowed. Can't you catch him?"
NO" said |. hes zone. He prob
ably will go back to the trail"
No" she said. they run wild some
times. But now what shall we dor
| looked at her in anxiety had
read all my life of being afoot on the
plains. Here was the reality.
But you are hurt" she cried
Look, your wound is bleeding"
had not known it, but my neck was
wet with blood.
Get up and ride" she said. I'VE
must be going" But | held the stir
rup for her instead. smiling
Mount" ! id. ard so | put her up
Shall we go back to campY she
asked in some perturbation, apparently
forgetting that there was no camp, and
that by this time the wagons would be
far to the west. For reasons of my
own l thought 1t better to go back to
the dead antelope. and 50 | told her.
1T is over there" she said. pointing
in the direction from which she thought
she had come. | differed with her. re-
membering ! had ridden with the sun
in my face when following it, and re
Numbering the shape Of the hilltop
near by. Finally my guess proved cor
rect, and we found the dead animal
nearly a mile from where she had
waited for me. | hurried with the
butchering. cutting the loin well for
ward and rolling it all tight in the
hide. bound the meat behind the sad
die
Now. shall we go backT' she asked
IF we rode opposite to the sun we
might strike the trail These hills look
all alike"
But does not the trail cut off the
bend and run straight westY' | rejoin
ed Neither of us knew that the
course OF the north fork ran thence
far to the northwest and quite away
from the trail 10 Laramie We started
southwest AS nearly as we could deter
mine il and | admit that grave auXl