He backed away from the spot where he had been trying to dig and again slowly wandered about the hole. It was a much larger place than he had at first thought, and as he slowly moved toward one end he saw that the light was stronger.
“Maybe that’s a place where I can get out,” cried poor Shaggo. “I hope it is! I’m not having very much fun so far!”
His shoulder was so painful that he could not run, as he wanted to. But he managed to get nearer the place of the light, and then, to his surprise, he saw an easy slope of earth leading up into what seemed to be a large cave.
“Maybe this is the cave where a lot of us buffaloes stayed last winter,” thought Shaggo. “If it is I’m all right—though I would still be back on the range. No, I don’t see how this could be that cave—that was inside the wire fence, and I surely jumped outside. Besides, I don’t smell any buffalo smell, as I would if any of my friends had been in this cave. It must be another.”
And it was, as Shaggo found a little later. The pit, into which he had jumped through the bushes, was joined to a big cave under the mountain, and by walking up a little hill of dirt, Shaggo was soon in the cave. It was much larger than the pit, and lighter, too, and Shaggo was glad of this.
“Now maybe I can find something to eat and drink,” thought the mighty buffalo. “But, most of all, I want something to drink.”
So, making his way to the cave, Shaggo sniffed and smelled.
He wandered on and on in the big cave, which was getting lighter and lighter. All of a sudden Shaggo stopped, lifted his head and sniffed deeply.
“I smell water!” he bellowed aloud, he was so excited.