Pee-eye-em had also been
successful in securing his favourite hunter: but nearly every other
horse belonging to the camp had broken loose and joined the whirlwind
gallop. But they gradually dropped out, and before morning the most of
them were secured by their owners. As there were at least two thousand
horses and an equal number of dogs in the part of the Indian camp
which had been thus overrun by the wild mustangs, the turmoil, as may
be imagined, was prodigious! Yet, strange to say, no accident of a
serious nature occurred beyond the loss of several chargers.
In the midst of this exciting scene there was one heart which beat
with a nervous vehemence that well-nigh burst it. This was the heart
of Dick Varley's horse, Charlie. Well known to him was that distant
rumbling sound that floated on the night air into the fur-traders'
camp, where he was picketed close to Cameron's tent. Many a time had
he heard the approach of such a wild troop, and often, in days not
long gone by, had his shrill neigh rung out as he joined and led
the panic-stricken band.
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