Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/157

 distance between the party and the one in advance, to which Garret Chadwick and his nephew belonged; for the latter company moved at an early hour and were many miles distant before nightfall.

Antelope hunting has been too often described for me to dwell upon this particular venture. When the three rode over the plains to the northwest in the direction of the towering Laramie Mountains, not one of the animals was in sight, nor had the guide seen any on the previous day. He had been over the region before, however, and knew he would not have to hunt long.

He first headed toward a ridge which rose two hundred feet or more above the prairie, showing few boulders and rocks, and no trees. Beyond it stretched a beautiful valley to the foothills of the mountain range. This space was several miles in width, and a small, clear stream meandered through the valley, on its way to the Sweetwater, and thence to the North Platte. Shagbark gave it as his belief that some of the animals would be found in the valley, and, as usual, he was not mistaken.

The American antelope or pronghorn is a native of the plains near the Rocky