But the latter had seen this sort of business before, and was prepared for it.
Without attempting to turn to the one side or the other, or to check his speed in the least, he made a terrific flying leap upward, going clear over the head of the buffalo, landing upon the other side, and continuing his flight at his leisure, as it may be said.
This was a clever trick of the mustang, but it proved the undoing4 of his rider, who had no other saddle than the Indian blanket strapped5 to the horse's back. This was good enough, except in such a sudden emergency as the present, when Ned was entirely6 unprepared for it. It was done in a twinkling, the end of it being that he found himself lying upon the green sward of the prairie, considerably7 bruised8, and with horse and buffalo rapidly speeding from view.
"This is a go," said the lad, rising to his feet and looking about him. "I don't see where the fun of buffalo hunting comes in."
During the minutes of excitement when the mustang was coursing with such speed over the prairie, the rider had no idea of the direction taken, nor could he conjecture9 how far he had gone; but the result was that he was separated by a much greater distance than he supposed from his friends. Ned stood and gazed carefully about him. Off to the west were the dust, and thousands upon thousands of buffaloes10. The latter were too far removed to be distinguished11, but that tramping and the heavy cloud indicated where the mass of life was plunging tumultuously forward toward some destination unknown even to themselves. Nothing was to be seen of the hunters. They had sent the lad off on this hunt on purpose to give him a taste of buffalo hunting, not supposing, of course, that any accident would result.
"What shall I do?" was the question the boy asked himself, as he stood, rifle in hand, and looked around him. "If there was some way in which I could get a good supper, I wouldn't mind this camping out, for Tom and Dick will be sure to find me in the morning."
Looking toward the north, he fancied that he dimly discerned the dark outline of something which resembled a grove12 of trees, and he turned his footsteps in that direction.
"If they are trees," he reflected, as he trudged13 along, "it's more than likely there's water there, and now that I've got a gun, I've some chance of shooting something; and that reminds me of poor Corporal Hugg's warning, always to reload my gun the first thing after firing it."
He had enough sense to carry out this resolution on the spot, and then he resumed his journey in the direction of the object that had attracted his attention. A short distance further he was pleased to find his first impression correct. He was approaching a clump14 of trees where he could rest with a much greater sense of security than upon the open prairie. Thoroughly15 weary and worn out, faint with hunger, he felt like throwing himself upon the ground and sleeping for a week. But, continuing, he entered a grove of trees something like a hundred yards in extent, through which, in the stillness of the night, he caught distinctly the ripple16 of flowing water. It required but a moment to discover this and he lay down upon the margin17, quaffed18 his full and flung himself upon the grass to sleep until morning. Five minutes after his eyes were shut he was wrapped in a sound slumber19 which remained undisturbed until morning when, as he opened his eyes, he found the sun shining through the branches upon him.
"Gracious!" he exclaimed, starting up. "Where am I?"
It took several minutes before he could collect his senses and tell where he was; and then as he recalled the separation from his friends, he hurried out to the edge of the wood in the hope of discovering them somewhere near at hand; but, look in whatsoever20 direction he chose, nothing was to be seen but the broad sweeping21 prairie, stretching away until sky and earth joined in the distance. Far off, low down in the horizon, the blue wavy22 outline of a mountain spur was to be seen. Miles and miles away, it would probably require days of traveling before it could be reached.
"That's strange!" murmured Ned, as a feeling of alarm began stealing over him. "Where can Tom and Dick be? They must be somewhere in this neighborhood, and yet I cannot see any signs of them."
He moved around the grove, carefully gazing in every direction; but after making the complete circuit he came back without having detected anything that told him what had become of his friends.
The grove in which he had taken shelter abounded23 with undergrowth, so dense24 in many places, that he made his way with considerable difficulty. He had no thought of any one else being in the same place, but, while moving along in his careless manner, he was aroused to a sense of imprudence by the sound of something on his right. Turning his head, his surprise may be imagined when he saw a solitary25 buffalo standing26 scarcely a dozen feet distant, and staring straight at him. Ned was so astonished that for the moment he forgot that he carried a loaded gun, and stared at the creature in turn, the two forming as striking a tableau27 as it is possible to imagine.
The buffalo may have known the capacity of the weapon which the boy carried in his hand, for, with a sniff28 of alarm, he wheeled and started away on a run. As quick as thought the lad seemed to awake to a sense of his situation, and, raising his gun, he blazed away.
The shot, fired at random29, could not have been better aimed by the most veteran of hunters. The ball entered directly behind the fore-leg just as it was thrown forward in the act of running, and, penetrating30 to the heart, the result was that the animal never made another bound. His own momentum31 carried him a few feet forward, when he tumbled and rolled over in a heap.
"Now I'll have a meal!" exclaimed the delighted lad, as he ran forward to claim his prize. "I feel as if I could eat the whole buffalo."
There seemed to be no reason why he should not provide himself with the most substantial kind of dinner. He knew very little about a buffalo, but it was no difficult task to cut off a good sized piece, which he placed upon some green leaves, while he looked about for some means of starting a fire.
This exclamation33 was caused by the sight of a smoking wad lying at his very feet, just as if Providence34 had sent it that he might be provided with the indispensable fire. Picking it up and blowing it, he saw that it was in a vigorous state, and could be utilized35 without trouble. A few leaves were hurriedly gathered together, dried twigs36 placed upon these, and then the tiny blaze that required considerable blowing to produce, was carefully nursed into a larger one until a good roaring, crackling fire was the result.
Leaving this to burn by itself, Ned took the meat to the side of the stream, where he carefully washed and dressed it, ready for cooking. When this was completed, he skewered37 it upon some green twigs, and began toasting it. The process was rather tardy38, but as soon as a bite of the meat had spluttered and crisped for a moment, Ned bit it off, and went to masticating39 it. The cooking continued rapidly enough to keep his jaws40 going, and was a good arrangement, for it prevented his eating too fast, and gave him the fullest enjoyment41 imaginable of the meal. All of an hour was occupied in this way, during which Ned was in as happy a frame of mind as can be conceived. For the first half of the time he seemed to be growing more hungry with each mouthful he swallowed. Then came a standstill, and soon he began to gain upon it, the end being that he thoroughly satisfied that appetite which at one time had seemed unappeasable. With no further necessity of thinking of the wants of the inner man, the lad began to debate as to what he should do to get out of the rather unpleasant position in which he was placed. There he was, his horse gone, his two friends missing, and himself still a long distance from home. He knew not in what direction to turn to reach Fort Havens42, and, even if he did, he had little assurance of ever reaching it. Indeed, with the exception of the rather important fact that he had secured possession of a rifle and some ammunition43, it may be said that his position was very similar to what it was before he came across Dick Morris and Tom Hardynge.
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1
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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buffaloes
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| n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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quaffed
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| v.痛饮( quaff的过去式和过去分词 )；畅饮；大口大口将…喝干；一饮而尽 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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34
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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35
utilized
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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37
skewered
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| v.（用串肉扦或类似物）串起，刺穿( skewer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
tardy
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| adj.缓慢的，迟缓的 | |
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39
masticating
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| v.咀嚼( masticate的现在分词 )；粉碎，磨烂 | |
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40
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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41
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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42
havens
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| n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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