HUNTING WITH A SIX-SHOOTER
The round-up was over and the representatives of the various brands had
started off in different directions toward their home ranches, taking
with them the few cattle that had been gathered during these last days.
With the Sturgis party went also Jack Mason, whom McIntyre had engaged
only for the round-up, and who was beginning to get uneasy and to long
to resume his wandering life. When he paid him off, McIntyre said to
Mason that he would be glad to have him work on the ranch for the rest
of the season, and even hinted that he would give him a job for the
winter, but to these proposals Mason shook his head, laughingly, and
declared that his steady job had lasted long enough and that now he was
going to make a little trip.
There were thus five men in the party that was traveling toward Swift
Water Ranch. They had about fifty head of cattle and twenty-five horses
to drive. The distance was short, the weather fine, and they expected
to reach the ranch in three or four days, at the most.
The morning after the round-up outfits had separated, they started in
good season, traveling up a broad open valley between the mountains,
where in many places the grass stood well above the horses' knees. As
they drove along, antelope were constantly seen ahead of them, which,
though not shy, always moved off ahead, or ran up the open side valleys
which at short intervals emptied into the main one.
"Son," Hugh said to Jack, who was riding near him, "why don't you and
Donald go ahead and try to kill a buck antelope with your pistols? I'm
getting hungry for a piece of wild meat. I've had so much beef lately
that it seems to me I can pretty near feel my horns sprouting;" and he
rubbed his hand over the side of his head. "The buck antelope ought
to be in pretty fair order now, and I don't know why you shouldn't be
able to get up pretty close to 'em, if you work along close to the
side of the valley, and see the antelope before they see you. They're
great fellows, you know, to climb up and lie where they can look out
over the country. If you had rifles you'd be sure to get a shot or two.
I don't know what kind of a pistol shot you are. Most of us can't do
much with these short guns, though Major Frank North, down in Nebraska,
could kill game as well with a pistol as I could with a rifle. Many
a time I've seen him kill deer and antelope at a hundred yards, what
we'd think was a good rifle shot, and he was using just an ordinary
revolver."
"That's a good idea, Hugh. We'll do it. I'd like to give Donald a
chance. He hasn't had any show yet to hunt, and I expect that's what he
came out here for."
"Is it?" inquired Hugh. "I haven't seen him carry a rifle, and I didn't
know what he was out here for."
"Well," Jack admitted, "I don't know either; it's just my guess that
maybe he came out to have a hunt."
"Then take him along. You're not needed here, and I certainly would
like to have some wild meat hung up in camp."
Jack asked Donald if he wanted to go and see whether they could kill
an antelope with their pistols, and there was no doubt about Donald's
readiness; so it was not long before the two young fellows, riding out
well to one side of the little herd, galloped off up the valley and,
waving to Rube as they passed, were soon out of sight behind a point of
the hills.
When they were well beyond sight or sound of the herd, Jack drew in his
horse and, turning toward the edge of the valley, repeated to Donald
what Hugh had said.
"What we want to do," Jack went on, "is to keep as close as we can to
the edge of the valley and watch the ground ahead for antelope. Along
toward the middle of the morning they're likely to get up pretty high
and to lie down where they can have a good look over the open land. If
we can see one lying down, or can see one working toward a place where
it looks as if he might lie down, we may be able to get right close to
him. Now, I've used a pistol mighty little, and I don't feel at all
sure that I can hit anything with it. Have you ever used a pistol much?"
"In past years in England, and in New York, I have done some shooting
with a pistol at a target, but of course I have never shot at game;
and I fancy that to shoot at game is very different from shooting at a
target, in a quiet place with all the lights arranged just so."
"Yes," laughed Jack, "I should think it would be; but if you know how
to shoot a pistol, you'll have to do your best to kill the game. I tell
you, if we come in to-night without anything, I shall lay it up against
you."
"I'll do what I can," Donald promised, "if you will take me up close
enough to get a fair shot. You see in the shooting-galleries the
distances are short, scarcely ever over twenty yards; and what is more,
the people there shoot with special pistols, and often with special
ammunition. So if I flunk on killing game, you can see I will have
plenty of excuses. Besides that, I don't know anything about this
pistol--it's a new one I've just bought, and I can't tell anything
about how it's going to shoot."
The hills which bordered the valley on either side were low, but rough,
rocky ledges often thrust themselves out to the valley's edge, and from
these ledges great pink or reddish rocks, occasionally worn into queer
shapes, had fallen. Sometimes around such a great rock was a little
tangle of underbrush--cherry, currant and raspberries--while sometimes
there was no brush and the yellow grass grew close about the rocks. It
was up here on the higher land that Jack hoped to find antelope lying
down, and, under cover of rocks and brush and the inequalities of the
ground, to be able to get close enough to kill one with a pistol.
As they rode on, it became clear that Hugh had sent them to a good
hunting place for antelope. Groups of these animals, or sometimes old
bucks feeding singly, could be seen every few hundred yards for a long
distance ahead. Some of the bucks seemed to carry extraordinarily large
horns, which would make fine trophies to hang on the wall, and both
Jack and Donald regretted that they did not have their rifles.
Donald, whose experience in hunting was much less than Jack's, was
anxious to try to approach the first bunch of antelope they saw; but
Jack pointed out to him that this could not be done, because there
was little or no cover. He explained further that if they started the
antelope running along this valley, they would put every animal there
on the alert, and their hunting later in the day would be just so much
the more difficult.
"If we ride along close to the rocks here," he said, "the antelope
will pay little attention to us. Some of them will stand and look, and
perhaps walk off a little way, but when they see us go on about our
business they will begin to feed again. Along toward the middle of the
day, if we keep our eyes well open, we are pretty sure to find some of
these big bucks lying down close to the hills, and then we'll give you
a chance to see what you can do with your six-shooter."
"All right," agreed Donald; "all right; you're the hunter, and I am
perfectly willing to follow along behind and do what you tell me to."
"Oh, it's not that. But I've had more experience than you, and I know
better than you what animals will do under certain circumstances. Why,"
Jack laughed, "don't I remember the first antelope I ever killed! How
crazy I was to get up to it, and how I fell down two or three times on
the way to the top of the hill, and how I finally scared the antelope
out of the country! I believe that was one of the best lessons in
hunting I ever learned. I made such a complete fool of myself, that I
even saw it myself, and it humbled me and made me ask Hugh to put me on
the right road, and to keep me traveling there."
Donald was interested in all hunting matters, and he was anxious to
have Jack tell him the whole story of that hunt in detail. Somewhat
reluctantly, Jack told him something of his adventures during his first
visit to his uncle's ranch, when he was known as "Jack, the Young
Ranchman."
As the boys rode up the valley, new vistas of its yellow surface and
of the side ravines that came into it were constantly opening up, and
distant animals were often seen which Donald could not always identify,
and which he took for deer, or elk, or even cattle. Jack assured him,
however, that they were all antelope.
"How do you know?" Donald asked. "Now there's a beast far off that
looks black, and looks as if it had big horns. How do you know that
that's an antelope?"
"I can't tell you how I know, but I do know that it's an antelope. You
say it looks black; well, so it does, but on the other hand, look where
the sun is, and you'll see that the reason it looks black is because
the part of it that we see is mostly in the shadow, while everything
around about is in that bright sunlight. You say it looks as if it had
big horns, and I'll acknowledge that it does--but look at it now. Can
you see its horns?"
"No," said Donald; "it seems to have lost its horns."
"It has to our eyes," explained Jack, "because it has turned its head,
and we don't see the horns from the point of view that we did before.
It would be hard for me to say positively that any of those things
were not elk or cattle, but I'm dead sure that they are all antelope,
because at this time of the day there would not be any elk in this
place; that's one thing; another thing is, if they were cattle they
would look different. They would be squarer, broader, heavier. Hold on
there! Bend down slow, and slip off your horse!"
In a moment the boys were on the ground.
"Did you see him?" Jack whispered.
"No," answered Donald; "I didn't see anything."
"Why, there's a big buck antelope lying there, not seventy-five yards
away, and he didn't see us either. I believe we can crawl up close
enough to get a shot. Look here, you said just now that you didn't
know your pistol, and didn't know how you could shoot with it. Do you
want to take mine? I can tell you how it shoots, but I don't know that
that'll do much good. If you can get near enough to the buck and can
find a place to rest the pistol, you had better shoot at him from a
rest."
"Well, how are we going to get near him?" asked Donald. "I don't know
where he is. You will have to crawl up to him, and when you get to the
right place, call me up and I'll shoot."
"I think we can get up to him all right," said Jack. "He's lying up on
a little bench, and I believe we can crawl along under the bank right
close to him. The only danger is that he'll see you when you rise to
shoot; and I suppose if you have to shoot at him on the run, you'll
miss him."
"I'm sure I shall; but let's try, anyhow."
They threw down the reins of their horses, and turning toward the
valley crept very carefully down into a little sag. Jack pointed ahead
to where a great rock showed sixty or seventy yards away.
"He's lying right at the foot of that rock; between us and it. Now,
we'll have to crawl along this low place, sticking as flat to the
ground as we know how, and then when we get within thirty or forty
yards, you lift up your head and find him and kill him, if you can. If
you miss him, I may take a pop at him; but I'm certain I shan't hit him
when he's running. But, say," he cautioned in a whisper, "don't you
take your pistol out of your holster until you get ready to shoot, and
I won't take mine out either. I'm afraid that if we have them in our
hands we might kill each other instead of the antelope."
"All right," agreed Donald.
Jack threw off his hat and Donald did the same, and the boys crept
along very cautiously and slowly. As they advanced, the top of the rock
seemed to come nearer and nearer, and at length they were quite close
to it. Presently Jack stopped, looked back and motioned with his hand
for Donald to creep up beside him.
"Now you go up very slowly on your knees," he whispered, "and try to
find him. Remember that the first thing you will see is his black horns
sticking up. If you see them close together, his head will be turned
out toward the valley; if you see them wide spread he'll be looking
straight in our direction. Wait, if you can, until he looks out toward
the valley, and then rise and shoot. You'll have to shoot pretty
quickly, for he's almost certain to see us. Raise your head very
slowly."
Donald gathered his legs under him and very slowly rose to his knees,
at the same time feeling for his six-shooter. Gradually as his head
rose higher and higher, his hand went around to his hip; but when he
was standing on his knees it was evident that he saw nothing. He looked
at Jack, who motioned with his hand toward the rock, and Donald crept
forward a little way up the bank. This time when he raised his head, he
saw the animal. He drew his pistol and noiselessly cocked it, waited a
moment and then, raising his head and hand slowly, he fired.
Jack was on his knees behind Donald and had his pistol ready, but
nothing stirred.
"You must have got him!" Jack cried.
The boys quickly jumped to their feet and climbed up the bank, and
there was the antelope, his head stretched out before him.
"Let's get a knife into him!" exclaimed Jack. "He may be only creased."
A few steps brought the boys to him, and taking hold of the antelope's
horn Jack thrust in his knife at the point of the breast. Then he
saw that the ball had entered just below the head and had broken the
antelope's neck.
"By Jove!" he cried, "that was a good shot, and a quick shot! If that
wasn't an accident, it was certainly a way up shot. I'd give a good
deal to be able to shoot a pistol like that three times out of five."
"It was a lucky shot, sure enough," laughed Donald. "I can't do that
sort of thing three times out of five, nor three times out of ten. I
wish I could."
"Well, we'll have to have some pistol practise when we get back to the
ranch, for if you can do this thing often, I'll want you to give me
some lessons."
The boys dressed the antelope, which was a fine old buck with a pair of
long, spreading horns.
"This will tickle Hugh," said Jack, "for it's just what he asked for--a
good piece of wild meat."
They left the antelope where it lay, and riding out a short distance
from the hills so that they could see the whole valley, they took the
saddles and bridles from their horses and let them feed while they sat
there and talked until the slow traveling herd had come almost to where
they were. Then they saddled up again, went back to the antelope, and
putting it on Donald's horse rode down and joined the others.