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On the second day of my experience of the Galu country I came upon a bunch of
as magnificent horses as it has ever been my lot to see. They were dark bays with
blazed faces and perfect surcingles of white about their barrels. Their forelegs
were white to the knees. In height they stood almost sixteen hands, the mares
being a trifle smaller than the stallions, of which there were three or four in this
band of a hundred, which comprised many colts and half-grown horses. Their
markings were almost identical, indicating a purity of strain that might have
persisted since long ages ago. If I had coveted one of the little ponies of the Kro-
lu country, imagine my state of mind when I came upon these magnificent
creatures! No sooner had I espied them than I determined to possess one of
them; nor did it take me long to select a beautiful young stallion--a four-year-old,
I guessed him.
The horses were grazing close to the edge of the forest in which Nobs and I were
concealed, while the ground between us and them was dotted with clumps of
flowering brush which offered perfect concealment. The stallion of my choice
grazed with a filly and two yearlings a little apart from the balance of the herd
and nearest to the forest and to me. At my whispered "Charge!" Nobs flattened
himself to the ground, and I knew that he would not again move until I called
him, unless danger threatened me from the rear. Carefully I crept forward toward
my unsuspecting quarry, coming undetected to the concealment of a bush not
more than twenty feet from him. Here I quietly arranged my noose, spreading it
flat and open upon the ground.
To step to one side of the bush and throw directly from the ground, which is the
style I am best in, would take but an instant, and in that instant the stallion
would doubtless be under way at top speed in the opposite direction. Then he
would have to wheel about when I surprised him, and in doing so, he would most
certainly rise slightly upon his hind feet and throw up his head, presenting a
perfect target for my noose as he pivoted.
Yes, I had it beautifully worked out, and I waited until he should turn in my
direction. At last it became evident that he was doing so, when apparently
without cause, the filly raised her head, neighed and started off at a trot in the
opposite direction, immediately followed, of course, by the colts and my stallion.
It looked for a moment as though my last hope was blasted; but presently their
fright, if fright it was, passed, and they resumed grazing again a hundred yards
farther on. This time there was no bush within fifty feet of them, and I was at a
loss as to how to get within safe roping-distance. Anywhere under forty feet I am
an excellent roper, at fifty feet I am fair; but over that I knew it would be a matter
of luck if I succeeded in getting my noose about that beautiful arched neck.
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