All turned and they saw him pointing to the ground some little distance away. It was near the brink of a spring that oozed from the ground in a sort of hollow; and all about it were the marks of trampling hoofs.
“Buffalo!” said Colonel Crockett.
The entire party gathered about the spring and examined the tracks.
“There were only about half a dozen,” said the old Texan, as his sharp eyes followed out the hoof prints. “But there’s a herd near by. These were only stragglers, come to look for water.”
Supper was cooked and eaten that evening amid considerable excitement; and as they lay wrapped in their blankets afterward, the boys listened to the stories told by Crockett and old Dolph of mighty buffalo hunters who had gone before and of hunts that had come to be parts of the history of the west. Story after story followed, the other men taking part, telling of their own experiences in chase of the mighty beast of the plains, or those of others whom they had known. Both youngsters dropped off to sleep with the voices still coming out of the shadows around the camp-fire; and little wonder that they dreamed of great herds of buffalo whose hoof beats were like the thunder, and whose mighty rush seemed to shake the earth.
At sunup all were astir, and breakfast was quickly over; then they looked at their arms and ammunition, and climbed upon their horses’ backs.
“Now, boys,” said Crockett, to the two young fellows who rode beside him, “as you never rode the buffalo range before, it’s just as well that you know something about the matter. Above all, look out for the buffalo bull; you’ve heard of the grizzly bear and the panther and other dangerous beasts, and they are dangerous enough, to be sure. But the buffalo bull, especially when he’s wounded, is one of the worst brutes that a man ever faced.”
“So, when you draw a bead on one,” said old Dolph, who rode near by, “be sure and aim at a place that’ll make the shot fatal. If you don’t, you’ll have a job on your hands that’ll be hard to finish.”
The tracks of the buffalo they’d been following finally merged into a wide, much trampled trail, evidently made by hundreds of the animals.
“Just as I thought,” said the old Texan, in a satisfied tone. “They belonged to a big herd, and now have joined the rest of them.”