Nor did they notice any signs of enemies around them. Sandy insisted upon going over to the spot where the Indian had dropped his bow and arrow, at the time he received Bob's bullet in his arm. "Some of them might refuse to believe that we had met a real Indian, and got the better of him," he said, after picking up his trophies; "but these will be the proof." "Let us go on," observed Bob, who had now finished the labor of recharging his gun. "Then you do not mean to give up looking for game?" asked Sandy, eagerly. "Why should we?" observed his brother, sturdily. "That Indian has run off, and we need fear nothing further from him. Perhaps there is no other within miles of this spot, and we need fresh meat very much. If my shot has not frightened everything away, we may get a chance at a deer yet." "Perhaps a buffalo!" remarked Sandy, with eagerness in his voice; for as yet no one in the company had been successful in shooting a specimen of those huge, shaggy monsters, about which they had heard so much, and whose beaten trails they followed so persistently in making their way. They kept on, Bob careful all the while to observe the direction they took, for he did not wish to get lost. He was moving up against the wind, so that even the most suspicious game might not scent their presence. "Look! What is that?" whispered Sandy, as they made their way through a screen of bushes, and some bulky object was observed trotting along ahead. "A buffalo at last! Get ready, and we will fire together!" said Bob, trying to stifle his excitement as he dropped on one knee, the better to aim his gun. "Ready? Shoot!" The two reports sounded almost as one. "He went down! Oh! we got him!" shrilled the sanguine one, ready to rush forward. "Hold on!" Bob quickly cried; "see, you're mistaken, for he has scrambled to his feet. Wounded as he is, if he sees us there will be trouble. There, he is heading this way, Sandy! Jump for a tree, lad, jump for a tree!" CHAPTER IX ALONG THE BUFFALO TRAIL SANDY jumped according to orders. With that furious-looking beast coming on the trot, with lowered, massive head, and uttering savage bellows as he advanced, no boy would have hesitated in seeking safety. [Illustration: "SLIPPING ADROITLY AROUND THE BEECH AS FAST AS THE BUFFALO COULD CHASE AFTER HIM."] Bob swung himself into the lower branches of the tree under which he chanced to be at the time the attack came. On the other hand, Sandy did not understand it in that light. He expected to use the trunk of a beech as a shield, behind which he might find shelter from the bison bull. Apparently the animal had only sighted Sandy, since he made direct for the tree back of which the boy crouched. "Look out for him, Sandy!" shouted the occupant of the tree, as he kicked his moccasined feet, and in other ways tried to attract to himself the attention of the infuriated beast.