Alas, when would
impulsive youth ever listen to wise counsel and take heed! I entered
the ruins and saw a dark telltale pool oozing forth from under the
door of a cellar. Oh, had I but then overcome my morbid curiosity and
fled! But no! I must needs open the door and look in. I saw--I saw a
beautiful whiskey barrel, its belly bursted and its head stove in!
The trip across the plains was a very healthful and pleasant
experience to me. During the greatest heat and while the moon favored
us, we often traveled at night and rested in daytime. By foregoing my
rest, I found opportunity to hunt antelope and smaller game. I was
very fond of this sport and indulged in it frequently. One day I
sighted a band of antelope--these most beautiful and graceful
animals. I tried to head them off, in order to get within rifle-shot
distance, and drifted farther and farther away from camp until I must
have strayed at least five miles. Like a rebounding rubber ball,
their four feet striking the ground simultaneously, they fled until
at last they faded from sight on the horizon, engulfed in a
shimmering wave of heat, the reflection from a sun-scorched ground.
Reluctantly I gave up the chase, as I could by no means approach the
game, although they could not have winded me.
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