The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2 by J Fenimore Cooper (top non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📖

End,  The Lord,  He Only

Knows. I Have Seen,  In My Day,  The Chief Who,  In His Time,  Had Beheld

The First Christian That Placed His Wicked Foot In The Regions Of

York! How Much Has The Beauty Of The Wilderness Been Deformed In Two

Short Lives! My Own Eyes Were First Opened On The Shores Of The

Eastern Sea,  And Well Do I Remember,  That I Tried The Virtues Of The

First Rifle I Ever Bore,  After Such A March,  From The Door Of My

Father To The Forest,  As A Stripling Could Make Between Sun And Sun;

And That Without Offence To The Rights,  Or Prejudices,  Of Any Man Who

Set Himself Up To Be The Owner Of The Beasts Of The Fields. Natur'

Then Lay In Its Glory Along The Whole Coast,  Giving A Narrow Stripe,

Between The Woods And The Ocean,  To The Greediness Of The Settlers.

And Where Am I Now? Had I The Wings Of An Eagle,  They Would Tire

Before A Tenth Of The Distance,  Which Separates Me From That Sea,

Could Be Passed; And Towns,  And Villages,  Farms,  And Highways,

Churches,  And Schools,  In Short,  All The Inventions And Deviltries Of

Man,  Are Spread Across The Region. I Have Known The Time When A Few

Red-Skins,  Shouting Along The Borders,  Could Set The Provinces In A

Fever; And Men Were To Be Armed; And Troops Were To Be Called To Aid

From A Distant Land; And Prayers Were Said,  And The Women Frighted,

And Few Slept In Quiet,  Because The Iroquois Were On The War-Path,  Or

The Accursed Mingo Had The Tomahawk In Hand. How Is It Now? The

Country Sends Out Her Ships To Foreign Lands,  To Wage Their Battles;

Cannon Are Plentier Than The Rifle Used To Be,  And Trained Soldiers

Are Never Wanting,  In Tens Of Thousands,  When Need Calls For Their

Services. Such Is The Difference Atween A Province And A State,  My

Men; And I,  Miserable And Worn Out As I Seem,  Have Lived To See It

All!"

 

"That You Must Have Seen Many A Chopper Skimming The Cream From The

Face Of The Earth,  And Many A Settler Getting The Very Honey Of

Nature,  Old Trapper," Said Paul,  "No Reasonable Man Can,  Or,  For That

Matter,  Shall Doubt. But Here Is Ellen Getting Uneasy About The

Siouxes,  And Now You Have Opened Your Mind,  So Freely,  Concerning

These Matters,  If You Will Just Put Us On The Line Of Our Flight,  The

Swarm Will Make Another Move."

 

"Anan!"

 

"I Say That Ellen Is Getting Uneasy,  And As The Smoke Is Lifting From

The Plain,  It May Be Prudent To Take Another Flight."

 

"The Boy Is Reasonable. I Had Forgotten We Were In The Midst Of A

Raging Fire,  And That Siouxes Were Round About Us,  Like Hungry Wolves

Watching A Drove Of Buffaloes. But When Memory Is At Work In My Old

Brain,  On Times Long Past,  It Is Apt To Overlook The Matters Of The

Day. You Say Right,  My Children; It Is Time To Be Moving,  And Now

Comes The Real Nicety Of Our Case. It Is Easy To Outwit A Furnace,  For

It Is Nothing But A Raging Element; And It Is Not Always Difficult To

Throw A Grizzly Bear From His Scent,  For The Creatur' Is Both

Enlightened And Blinded By His Instinct; But To Shut The Eyes Of A

Waking Teton Is A Matter Of Greater Judgment,  Inasmuch As His Deviltry

Part 3 Chapter 23 Pg 61

Is Backed By Reason."

 

Notwithstanding The Old Man Appeared So Conscious Of The Difficulty Of

The Undertaking,  He Set About Its Achievement With Great Steadiness

And Alacrity. After Completing The Examination,  Which Had Been

Interrupted By The Melancholy Wanderings Of His Mind,  He Gave The

Signal To His Companions To Mount. The Horses,  Which Had Continued

Passive And Trembling Amid The Raging Of The Fire,  Received Their

Burdens With A Satisfaction So Very Evident,  As To Furnish A

Favourable Augury Of Their Future Industry. The Trapper Invited The

Doctor To Take His Own Steed,  Declaring His Intention To Proceed On

Foot.

 

"I Am But Little Used To Journeying With The Feet Of Others," He

Added,  As A Reason For The Measure,  "And My Legs Are A Weary Of Doing

Nothing. Besides,  Should We Light Suddenly On An Ambushment,  Which Is

A Thing Far From Impossible,  The Horse Will Be In A Better Condition

For A Hard Run With One Man On His Back Than With Two. As For Me,  What

Matters It Whether My Time Is To Be A Day Shorter Or A Day Longer! Let

The Tetons Take My Scalp,  If It Be God's Pleasure: They Will Find It

Covered With Grey Hairs; And It Is Beyond The Craft Of Man To Cheat Me

Of The Knowledge And Experience By Which They Have Been Whitened."

 

As No One Among The Impatient Listeners Seemed Disposed To Dispute The

Arrangement,  It Was Acceded To In Silence. The Doctor,  Though He

Muttered A Few Mourning Exclamations On Behalf Of The Lost Asinus,  Was

By Far Too Well Pleased In Finding That His Speed Was Likely To Be

Sustained By Four Legs Instead Of Two,  To Be Long In Complying: And,

Consequently,  In A Very Few Moments The Bee-Hunter,  Who Was Never Last

To Speak On Such Occasions,  Vociferously Announced That They Were

Ready To Proceed.

 

"Now Look Off Yonder To The East," Said The Old Man,  As He Began To

Lead The Way Across The Murky And Still Smoking Plain; "Little Fear Of

Cold Feet In Journeying Such A Path As This: But Look You Off To The

East,  And If You See A Sheet Of Shining White,  Glistening Like A Plate

Of Beaten Silver Through The Openings Of The Smoke,  Why That Is Water.

A Noble Stream Is Running Thereaway,  And I Thought I Got A Glimpse Of

It A While Since; But Other Thoughts Came,  And I Lost It. It Is A

Broad And Swift River,  Such As The Lord Has Made Many Of Its Fellows

In This Desert. For Here May Natur' Be Seen In All Its Richness,  Trees

Alone Excepted. Trees,  Which Are To The 'Arth,  As Fruits Are To A

Garden; Without Them Nothing Can Be Pleasant,  Or Thoroughly Useful.

Now Watch All Of You,  With Open Eyes,  For That Stripe Of Glittering

Water: We Shall Not Be Safe Until It Is Flowing Between Our Trail And

These Sharp Sighted Tetons."

 

The Latter Declaration Was Enough To Ensure A Vigilant Look Out For

The Desired Stream,  On The Part Of All The Trapper's Followers. With

This Object In View,  The Party Proceeded In Profound Silence,  The Old

Man Having Admonished Them Of The Necessity Of Caution,  As They

Entered The Clouds Of Smoke,  Which Were Rolling Like Masses Of Fog

Along The Plain,  More Particularly Over Those Spots Where The Fire Had

Encountered Occasional Pools Of Stagnant Water.

Part 3 Chapter 23 Pg 62

 

They Travelled Near A League In This Manner,  Without Obtaining The

Desired Glimpse Of The River. The Fire Was Still Raging In The

Distance,  And As The Air Swept Away The First Vapour Of The

Conflagration,  Fresh Volumes Rolled Along The Place,  Limiting The

View. At Length The Old Man,  Who Had Begun To Betray Some Little

Uneasiness,  Which Caused His Followers To Apprehend That Even His

Acute Faculties Were Beginning To Be Confused,  In The Mazes Of The

Smoke,  Made A Sudden Pause,  And Dropping His Rifle To The Ground,  He

Stood,  Apparently Musing Over Some Object At His Feet. Middleton And

The Rest Rode Up To His Side,  And Demanded The Reason Of The Halt.

 

"Look Ye,  Here," Returned The Trapper,  Pointing To The Mutilated

Carcass Of A Horse,  That Lay More Than Half Consumed In A Little

Hollow Of The Ground; "Here May You See The Power Of A Prairie

Conflagration. The 'Arth Is Moist,  Hereaway,  And The Grass Has Been

Taller Than Usual. This Miserable Beast Has Been Caught In His Bed.

You See The Bones; The Crackling And Scorched Hide,  And The Grinning

Teeth. A Thousand Winters Could Not Wither An Animal So Thoroughly,  As

The Element Has Done It In A Minute."

 

"And This Might Have Been Our Fate," Said Middleton,  "Had The Flames

Come Upon Us,  In Our Sleep!"

 

"Nay,  I Do Not Say That,  I Do Not Say That. Not But That Man Will Burn

As Well As Tinder; But,  That Being More Reasoning Than A Horse,  He

Would Better Know How To Avoid The Danger."

 

"Perhaps This Then Has Been But The Carcass Of An Animal,  Or He Too

Would Have Fled?"

 

"See You These Marks In The Damp Soil? Here Have Been His Hoofs,--And

There Is A Moccasin Print,  As I'm A Sinner! The Owner Of The Beast Has

Tried Hard To Move Him From The Place,  But It Is In The Instinct Of

The Creatur' To Be Faint-Hearted And Obstinate In A Fire."

 

"It Is A Well-Known Fact. But If The Animal Has Had A Rider,  Where Is

He?"

 

"Ay,  Therein Lies The Mystery," Returned The Trapper,  Stooping To

Examine The Signs In The Ground With A Closer Eye. "Yes,  Yes,  It Is

Plain There Has Been A Long Struggle Atween The Two. The Master Has

Tried Hard To Save His Beast,  And The Flames Must Have Been Very

Greedy,  Or He Would Have Had Better Success."

 

"Harkee,  Old Trapper," Interrupted Paul,  Pointing To A Little

Distance,  Where The Ground Was Drier,  And The Herbage Had,  In

Consequence,  Been Less Luxuriant; "Just Call Them Two Horses. Yonder

Lies Another."

 

"The Boy Is Right! Can It Be,  That The Tetons Have Been Caught In

Their Own Snares? Such Things Do Happen; And Here Is An Example To All

Evil-Doers. Ay,  Look You Here,  This Is Iron; There Have Been Some

White Inventions About The Trappings Of The Beast--It Must Be So--It

Part 3 Chapter 23 Pg 63

Must Be So--A Party Of The Knaves Have Been Skirting In The Grass

After Us,  While Their Friends Have Fired The Prairie,  And Look You At

The Consequences; They Have Lost Their Beasts,  And Happy Have They

Been If Their Own Souls Are Not Now Skirting Along The Path,  Which

Leads To The Indian Heaven."

 

"They Had The Same Expedient At Command As Yourself," Rejoined

Middleton,  As The Party Slowly Proceeded,  Approaching The Other

Carcass,  Which Lay Directly On Their Route.

 

"I Know Not That. It Is Not Every Savage That Carries His Steel And

Flint,  Or As Good A Rifle-Pan As This Old Friend Of Mine. It Is Slow

Making A Fire With Two Sticks,  And Little Time