"Wal, it wur some time afore I compre'nded what all this rough usage meant. I did at last. The pull upon my ankles gave me the idea. It wur the lariat that wur round them. My mustang had stampedoed, and wur draggin' me at full gallop acrosst the parairy! "The barkin', an' howlin', an' yelpin' I heerd, wur a pack o' parairy-wolves. Half-famished, they had attacked the mustang, and started him. "All this kim into my mind at once. You'll say it wur easy to lay hold on the rope, an' stop the hoss. So it mout appear; but I kin tell you that it ain't so easy a thing. It wan't so to me. My ankles wur in a noose, an' wur drawed clost together. Of coorse, while I wur movin' along, I couldn't get to my feet; an' whenever the mustang kim to a halt, an' I had half gathered myself, afore I laid reach the rope, away went the critter agin, flingin' me to the ground at full length. Another thing hindered me. Afore goin' to sleep, I had put my blanket on Mexikin-fashion--that is, wi' my head through a slit in the centre-- an' as the drag begun, the blanket flopped about my face, an' half-smothered me. Prehaps, however, an' I thort so arterwurd, that blanket saved me many a scratch, although it bamfoozled me a good bit. "I got the blanket off at last, arter I had made about a mile, I reckon, and then for the fust time I could see about me. Such a sight! The moon wur up, an' I kud see that the ground wur white with snow. It had snowed while I wur asleep; but that wan't the sight--the sight war, that clost up an' around me the hul parairy wur kivered with wolves--cussed parairy-wolves! I kud see their long tongues lollin' out, an' the smoke steamin' from their open mouths. "Bein' now no longer hampered by the blanket, I made the best use I could o' my arms. Twice I got hold o' the lariat, but afore I kud set myself to pull up the runnin' hoss, it wur jerked out o' my hand agin. "Somehow or other, I had got clutch o' my bowie, and at the next opportunity I made a cut at the rope, and heerd the clean `snig' o' the knife. Arter that I lay quiet on the parairy, an' I b'lieve I kinder sort o' fainted. "'Twan't a long faint no how; for when I got over it, I kud see the mustang about a half a mile off, still runnin' as fast as his legs could carry him, an' most of the wolves howlin' arter him. A few of these critters had gathered about me, but gettin' to my feet, I made a dash among them wi' the shinin' bowie, an' sent them every which way, I reckon. "I watched the mustang until he wur clur out o' sight, an' then I wur puzzled what to do. Fust, I went back for my blanket, which I soon rekivered, an' then I follered the back track to get my gun an' other traps whur I had camped. The trail wur easy, on account o' the snow, an' I kud see whur I had slipped through it all the way.