Gilpin observer., 1915-10-28
he rode. the sooner he would gather
his sweetheart In his arms

MS SWeetneart IN MS arms.
All the time Sally could hear the
thunder of the hoofs of the herd, far
away. But what did her keen ears
detect now? Was not the thunder of
hoofs drawing near? What If the herd
had swerved from the trail 1t usually
took in passing through that region
and should even now be steering
course toward the settlement?
Sally stood stock still in her tracks
and listened. The sound of the thun-
dering hoofs certainly became louder.
nearer, more thunderous. moment by
moment. In a panic of fear Sally
turned and fed back toward the settle
ment-only to find that she was di-
rectly in the path of the oncoming
herd. Yes, there was the herd not
half mile behind her, coming toward
her at a pace far faster than her own
maximum running speed-a herd a
mile wide.
Sally's only hope of escaping the
crushing hoofs of the herd now was
in running, not from the herd, but out
of it's way by escaping at one side or
the other of the vast mass of buffalo.
A quarter-mile she covered toward the
north side of the herd; and nearer and
nearer drew the thunder of hoofs on
the right Of her. Just ahead, she spied
a scaffold-an Indian burial place. On
high poles lay cross pieces of boughs,
on which lay a dead Indian, wrapped
in his blankets. Toward this scaf-
fold Sally now ran, thinking to climb
up to the platform on which the dead
Indian lay, thus securing a perch
above the buffaloes. But what horrible
thought possessed her now, as she ran
toward this sole and only hope of
escape. Would not the rushing herd
sweep down that platform, poles and
all. as if 'twere paper? She knew
that stampeding herd tramples ev-
erything in its path. like an ava
lanche. Still she must avail herself
Of this one chance of escape, in the
hope that the herd might swerve to
right or left before reaching the In
dian burial place.
Meantime the solitary horseman.
Tom Mingle, from rise of ground.
saw Sally's imminent peril and was
now riding in desperate haste to her
rescue.
Sally reached the burial place and
began climbing up one of the poles
toward the platform containing the
dead body. The herd was now within
a hundred yards of the scaffold. The
buffaloes had not swerved. as she
had hoped they would. On came the
laundering herd, and higher and
higher on the scaffold climbed Sally
till now-joy of joys!-a horseman
dashed up, plucked her from the scat
fold and threw her across his lap in
the saddle-then dashed on for dear
life.
And next instant the laundering
herd itself crashed against the scaffold
with impact so terrific that the struc-
ture toppled over. And if ever the
Pawnees looked for that dead Indian
after the passing of the herd. it is
certain that they found not vestige
of the body and nothing to mark what
had once been a dead Indian save his
bones imbedded in the earth.
And it was only because Toms
horse was itself speedier northward
than the fight of the herd westward
that the two riders escaped-just in
the nick of time, too. For. just as the
horse flew out of the path of the herd
the buffaloes began laundering by in
a run that would continue passing for
two or three days. Such was one of
the dangers in the buffalo country in
the days when the laundering herd
flowed back and forth like the waters
of boundless sea.