Dick looked around him before replying to this tempting proposal. He remembered that they had need to use particular care while away from the main body of explorers; but so far as indications went he could not discover the slightest sign of danger. Certainly there was nothing to be feared from François Lascelles out there on that wide stretch of plains, where in various places they could see timid antelopes and clumsy buffaloes feeding amidst the isolated stands of timber which dotted the landscape. "I see nothing to hinder our making the attempt, Roger," he finally remarked. "Then you agree, do you, Dick?" eagerly demanded the other young explorer, as he caressed his gun, and cast a happy look over the panorama that was spread in front of them. "Let's figure out just where our best chance lies, before we make a start," he was told. "We have to keep in mind that it's necessary to hide our mounts, so we can creep up on the herd close to some motte of timber." The boys had more than once shot the great, shaggy animals that in those early days abounded in countless thousands on the prairies of the Far West. Their fathers had hunted buffaloes while on the trail from Virginia to the banks of the Ohio when boys no older than Dick and Roger. Hence they were familiar with the habits of the animals which they now meant to stalk. Choosing their course so as to keep a patch of cottonwoods between themselves and the small herd they had picked out as their prey, the two boys urged their horses on at a smart pace. In several quarters they could see the swift-footed antelopes vanishing at a surprising pace, frightened by the approach of these strange animals, bearing riders on their backs, the like of which they possibly had never beheld before that day. The buffaloes, however, were not so easily alarmed. Unless they saw an enemy for themselves, or scented something that caused them uneasiness, they were likely to hold their ground where they chanced to be feeding. (Note 5.) Finally the boys decided it was no longer safe to take their horses with them. The animals were accordingly secured in a patch of timber, and the lads, still screened by the other motte, set forth on foot. They had possibly a quarter of a mile to walk before reaching their intended shelter, from the other side of which they hoped to be able to fire upon some of the nearest of the herd. The old grass still lay on the ground, dead and brown; but shoots of the new spring crop had begun to thrust their heads up between. It was on this tender green stuff that the buffaloes were browsing, and, as it grew more freely in certain places, such a fact would account for their presence near the timber. The one thing Dick and Roger had to be careful about was the chance of any straggler from the herd discovering them, and with a bellow giving the alarm. In order to avoid this if possible, Dick and his chum bent low as they advanced, and kept a wary lookout on either side of the timber.