So I said: "I have been out on a hunt with Milligan." This proved to be a big hit.

The audience cheered and applauded; which gave me greater confidence in my ability to get through the performance all right.

Buntline, who is a very versatile man, saw that it would be a good plan to follow this up, and he said: "Well, Bill, tell us all about the hunt." I thereupon proceeded to relate in detail the particulars of the affair.
I succeeded in making it rather funny, and I was frequently interrupted by rounds of applause.

Whenever I began to "weaken," Buntline would give me a fresh start, by asking some question.

In this way I took up fifteen minutes, without once speaking a word of my part; nor did I speak a word of it during the whole evening.