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Shaggo, The Mighty Buffalo (Version 2)

<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV SHAGGO AND THE ANTELOPES</h2> Surprised by the hot, spouting column of water, just as he had been about to take a drink, Shaggo leaped back in the cave. Then he stood there, watching the water bubble and boil. It also steamed, for it was very hot. “This is very queer,” thought the mighty buffalo. “Hot water is all right in a cold winter, maybe, but even then I’d have to let it cool in the snow before I could drink it. But hot water in the summer is no good at all. I wonder what makes this water so hot, and I wonder if it will cool?” Shaggo stood back, out of reach of the splashing, hot water, and looked at it. Never before had he seen anything like that. The column of hot, hissing water was shooting up from the middle of what he had thought was a quiet pool. It shot up just as you may have seen a fountain spurt in some city park, though of course Shaggo knew nothing of cities or city parks. All his life he had lived on the buffalo range, and though that was in what is[35] called a National Park, such as is the Yellowstone, Shaggo knew nothing of this. “Well, there’s no use in trying to drink that hot water,” thought the big buffalo. “If I wait a bit, though, it may cool. I guess I’ll do that, for I’m very thirsty. If I had a drink of cool water I think my shoulder would feel better.” Shaggo moved back a little and lay down where he could watch the spouting water. It was light in this part of the cave, and he could see very well. For some time Shaggo lay there. All at once, and as suddenly as it had begun, the water stopped bubbling up, and the pool became quiet. “Good!” exclaimed Shaggo to himself. “Now I can get a drink.” When he got up his shoulder hurt him again, and he had to cry “ouch!” several times before he managed to reach the edge of the pool, which was in the middle of the rocky floor of the cave. Shaggo could tell by sniffing that the water was cool now. “And such a good drink as I’ll have!” he said to himself. But just as he was about to put his nose down into the pool to drink, again came that bursting, bubbling column of hot water, and Shaggo had to leap quickly back for fear of being scalded. “Oh, dear me! This is no good at all!” bellowed[36] the shaggy buffalo, shaking his big head and his hump that was covered with long, dark brown hair. “This is a queer cave, where you can’t even get a drink of cold water!” Shaggo did not know what to do. The longer he waited the more he wanted a drink, but he could not take that hot water. “I’ll wait a little longer,” thought the runaway buffalo. “Maybe it won’t happen again. It’s like somebody playing a trick on me. If Soako or Poko were here I’d say they were doing it. But they are far away. They didn’t jump over the wire fence as I did—and I almost wish, now, that I hadn’t. I’m not having half as much fun as I thought I would. The range was a better place for me than I thought.” Once more Shaggo lay down near the hot, boiling spring. He waited until the column of water stopped bubbling and then he tried, for the third time, to get a drink. But when again it shot up, almost in his nose, he gave a grunt and wuff and said: “This settles it! I’m not going to fool away any more time here. I’m going out of this cave and get a drink somewhere else! This is a crazy sort of spring!” Limping along, and shaking his big head, Shaggo turned to find a way out of the cave. He knew that the place where the most light came[37] in was the place where he could get out, and he started for this. In a little while he was outside, on the broad, rolling prairie. He looked around him. Back in the distance he could see the wire-fenced buffalo range, from which he had jumped in order to run away. He was so far off now that he could not make out the forms of any of his animal friends. Nor could they see him, he felt sure. To one side was a big tract of woods, a dense forest, and in the other direction lay the prairies, over which, years before, millions of buffaloes like Shaggo had roamed as they pleased. Now there were only a few buffaloes left, and most of them were in National Parks. “Now to try for another place to get a drink,” said Shaggo to himself. “I guess I’ll keep out of the woods for a while.” Raising his big head, Shaggo sniffed the air. He was not quite sure, but he thought that over toward the east, in the place where the bright sun came up every morning, he could smell water. “I’ll try that way,” said Shaggo to himself. He lumbered slowly along, limping a little because of his hurt shoulder, and soon the smell of water came stronger to his black nose. All at once a voice that seemed to come from the ground on which Shaggo walked cried: [38] “Hey there! Why don’t you look where you’re going? You almost put your big foot in my house!” “Your house? Where’s your house?” bellowed Shaggo. “I don’t see any.” “No, because you’re up so high in the air,” went on the voice. “My house is right down by your big hoofs, and if you don’t take care you’ll tumble in the roof, and step on me!” Shaggo looked down and saw a queer, light brown little animal sitting near a hole in the ground. “Who in the world are you?” asked Shaggo. “I’m Yippi, the prairie dog,” was the answer. “Excuse me for speaking so sharply to you, but if I hadn’t you’d have broken into my house.” “I wouldn’t have done that on purpose,” said Shaggo. “I was so busy sniffing for water that I didn’t see you. Is there a cool spring to drink from around here? I found some water over in the cave, but it was hot, and bubbled up under my nose.” “Oh, that must have been one of those boiling geysers as they call them,” explained Yippi. “I’ve heard my grandfather tell of them, but I never saw one.” “Well, I’ve seen one, and I don’t care for another,” went on Shaggo. “Believe me, they’re no fun! Where can I get a cool drink?” [39] <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_p039.jpg" alt="" title="" /> <div class="caption">“Who in the world are you?” asked Shaggo.</div> </div> [40- 41] “You’re going in the right direction,” said Yippi, the prairie dog. “Just follow your nose, and you’ll come to a fine spring. It’s a big one where all we animal folk drink, but you have to take your turn. Mine doesn’t come until after all the others are through, as I’m so little, you see.” “What do you mean—take your turn?” asked Shaggo. “When I’m thirsty I take a drink—I don’t wait for any one.” “Well, perhaps you can, as you’re so strong and big,” replied the little prairie dog. “But I’m not sure. There are some other big animals in this part of the country—bears, and antelopes with sharp horns. They never bother me, though, for I run into my burrow and hide whenever I hear any of them coming. Once a bear tried to dig me out with his long claws.” “What did you do?” asked Shaggo. “Oh, I fooled him all right. While he was digging at my front door, I just slipped out at the back and ran away. Ha! Ha! We prairie dogs always have more than one hole door to our houses. But you’ll have to excuse me. I must get some grass for dinner.” “And I must get a drink,” said Shaggo. “Thank you for telling me about the spring, and excuse me for almost stepping on you.” “Oh, that’s all right,” barked Yippi. Then[42] the big buffalo turned away and Yippi ran off to gather some grass and other things to eat. As Shaggo walked on, going a bit slowly so his lame shoulder would not hurt so much, the smell of water became more and more plain. “And I surely hope it will not be a hot geyser spring this time,” thought Shaggo. “I am so very thirsty!” Over the rolling prairie, up little hills, and down in little valleys walked the mighty buffalo. In about half an hour he came to the top of a larger hill than any he had yet climbed. When he reached the top he looked down the slope and saw, at the bottom, a shining pool of water. “Oh, how good that looks!” thought Shaggo. He hurried down the hill as fast as he could, and he kept sniffing the air, to make sure there was no hot geyser that would spout up under his nose. But the cool smell of the water did not change, and the mighty buffalo began to take hope. As he neared the water hole he could see around the edge the marks of many animals in the mud. Some had paws and some had hoofs, like himself. Suddenly, from under a bush near the water hole, a big, fur-covered animal came out. “Oh, so you’re going to get a drink, are you?” asked this animal. [43] “Yes, Mr. Bear, I am,” said Shaggo. “I hope you have no objection, but, even if you have, I’m going to get a drink! My tongue is as dry as dust.” “Oh, get as many drinks as you please,” answered the bear. “I’ve had mine, and now I’m going off to take a nap. But you want to look out for the antelopes.” “Who are they?” asked Shaggo. “They are like deer, animals with sharp horns,” answered the bear. “It is nearly time for them to come for their drink. Look out for them!” “Pooh! I’m not afraid,” said Shaggo. “I guess I have as much right to this water as they have, and I’d like to see them drive me away, especially when I’m so thirsty!” “Well, I’ve told you to look out—that’s all I can do,” said the bear, as he walked slowly away. Shaggo limped down to the pool. As he neared it he looked carefully at it. He was afraid lest he might see some hot water spout up. He was going to ask the bear if this was one of those geysers, but he remembered the prairie dog had told him this was a good place to drink. Besides, there were the marks of many other animals at the pool, and they would not come if the water were hot. “Now for a good drink!” said Shaggo. [44] The mighty buffalo dipped his muzzle deep into the pool as a thirsty horse dips his nose into the watering trough. Long and deep drank Shaggo, and then he lifted his head to get his breath. As he did so he heard the rush of many feet, and, looking around, he saw rushing toward him a herd of large animals, on whose heads were sharp horns. “Here! Get away from our water hole! Let our drinking pool alone!” cried some of the horned animals as they rushed toward Shaggo. “Who are you?” asked the buffalo. “The antelopes!” was the answer. “You have no right to drink until we have finished. Come on, brothers!” cried the leader of the antelope herd. “Let us drive this shaggy creature away!” And with his sharp horns lowered this antelope, and several others, rushed straight at Shaggo. <hr class="chap" /> [45] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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