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

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Outstrip His Neighbour,  In Gaining This Desired Cover; And As

Thousands In The Rear Pressed Blindly On Those In Front,  There Was The

Appearance Of An Imminent Risk That The Leaders Of The Herd Would Be

Precipitated On The Concealed Party,  In Which Case The Destruction Of

Every One Of Them Was Certain. Each Of Our Adventurers Felt The Danger

Of His Situation In A Manner Peculiar To His Individual Character And

Circumstances.

 

Middleton Wavered. At Times He Felt Inclined To Rush Through The

Bushes,  And,  Seizing Inez,  Attempt To Fly. Then Recollecting The

Impossibility Of Outstripping The Furious Speed Of An Alarmed Bison,

He Felt For His Arms,  Determined To Make Head Against The Countless

Drove. The Faculties Of Dr. Battius Were Quickly Wrought Up To The

Very Summit Of Mental Delusion. The Dark Forms Of The Herd Lost Their

Distinctness,  And Then The Naturalist Began To Fancy He Beheld A Wild

Collection Of All The Creatures Of The World,  Rushing Upon Him In A

Body,  As If To Revenge The Various Injuries,  Which In The Course Of A

Life Of Indefatigable Labour In Behalf Of The Natural Sciences,  He Had

Inflicted On Their Several Genera. The Paralysis It Occasioned In His

System,  Was Like The Effect Of The Incubus. Equally Unable To Fly Or

To Advance,  He Stood Riveted To The Spot,  Until The Infatuation Became

So Complete,  That The Worthy Naturalist Was Beginning,  By A Desperate

Effort Of Scientific Resolution,  Even To Class The Different

Specimens. On The Other Hand,  Paul Shouted,  And Called On Ellen To

Come And Assist Him In Shouting,  But His Voice Was Lost In The

Bellowings And Trampling Of The Herd. Furious,  And Yet Strangely

Excited By The Obstinacy Of The Brutes And The Wildness Of The Sight,

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And Nearly Maddened By Sympathy And A Species Of Unconscious

Apprehension,  In Which The Claims Of Nature Were Singularly Mingled

With Concern For His Mistress,  He Nearly Split His Throat In Exhorting

His Aged Friend To Interfere.

 

"Come Forth,  Old Trapper," He Shouted,  "With Your Prairie Inventions!

Or We Shall Be All Smothered Under A Mountain Of Buffaloe Humps!"

 

The Old Man,  Who Had Stood All This While Leaning On His Rifle,  And

Regarding The Movements Of The Herd With A Steady Eye,  Now Deemed It

Time To Strike His Blow. Levelling His Piece At The Foremost Bull,

With An Agility That Would Have Done Credit To His Youth,  He Fired.

The Animal Received The Bullet On The Matted Hair Between His Horns,

And Fell To His Knees: But Shaking His Head He Instantly Arose,  The

Very Shock Seeming To Increase His Exertions. There Was Now No Longer

Time To Hesitate. Throwing Down His Rifle,  The Trapper Stretched Forth

His Arms,  And Advanced From The Cover With Naked Hands,  Directly

Towards The Rushing Column Of The Beasts.

 

The Figure Of A Man,  When Sustained By The Firmness And Steadiness

That Intellect Can Only Impart,  Rarely Fails Of Commanding Respect

From All The Inferior Animals Of The Creation. The Leading Bulls

Recoiled,  And For A Single Instant There Was A Sudden Stop To Their

Speed,  A Dense Mass Of Bodies Rolling Up In Front,  Until Hundreds Were

Seen Floundering And Tumbling On The Plain. Then Came Another Of Those

Hollow Bellowings From The Rear,  And Set The Herd Again In Motion. The

Head Of The Column,  However,  Divided. The Immovable Form Of The

Trapper,  Cutting It,  As It Were,  Into Two Gliding Streams Of Life.

Middleton And Paul Instantly Profited By His Example,  And Extended The

Feeble Barrier By A Similar Exhibition Of Their Own Persons.

 

For A Few Moments,  The New Impulse Given To The Animals In Front,

Served To Protect The Thicket. But,  As The Body Of The Herd Pressed

More And More Upon The Open Line Of Its Defenders,  And The Dust

Thickened,  So As To Obscure Their Persons,  There Was,  At Each Instant,

A Renewed Danger Of The Beasts Breaking Through. It Became Necessary

For The Trapper And His Companions To Become Still More And More

Alert; And They Were Gradually Yielding Before The Headlong Multitude,

When A Furious Bull Darted By Middleton,  So Near As To Brush His

Person,  And,  At The Next Instant,  Swept Through The Thicket With The

Velocity Of The Wind.

 

"Close,  And Die For The Ground," Shouted The Old Man,  "Or A Thousand

Of The Devils Will Be At His Heels!"

 

All Their Efforts Would Have Proved Fruitless,  However,  Against The

Living Torrent,  Had Not Asinus,  Whose Domains Had Just Been So Rudely

Entered,  Lifted His Voice,  In The Midst Of The Uproar. The Most Sturdy

And Furious Of The Bulls Trembled At The Alarming And Unknown Cry,  And

Then Each Individual Brute Was Seen Madly Pressing From That Very

Thicket,  Which,  The Moment Before,  He Had Endeavoured To Reach,  With

The Eagerness With Which The Murderer Seeks The Sanctuary.

 

As The Stream Divided,  The Place Became Clear; The Two Dark Columns

Part 3 Chapter 19 Pg 17

Moving Obliquely From The Copse,  To Unite Again At The Distance Of A

Mile,  On Its Opposite Side. The Instant The Old Man Saw The Sudden

Effect Which The Voice Of Asinus Had Produced,  He Coolly Commenced

Reloading His Rifle,  Indulging At The Same Time In A Heartfelt Fit Of

His Silent And Peculiar Merriment.

 

"There They Go,  Like Dogs With So Many Half-Filled Shot-Pouches

Dangling At Their Tails,  And No Fear Of Their Breaking Their Order;

For What The Brutes In The Rear Didn't Hear With Their Own Ears,

They'll Conceit They Did: Besides,  If They Change Their Minds,  It May

Be No Hard Matter To Get The Jack To Sing The Rest Of His Tune!"

 

"The Ass Has Spoken,  But Balaam Is Silent!" Cried The Bee-Hunter,

Catching His Breath After A Repeated Burst Of Noisy Mirth,  That Might

Possibly Have Added To The Panic Of The Buffaloes By Its Vociferation.

"The Man Is As Completely Dumb-Founded,  As If A Swarm Of Young Bees

Had Settled On The End Of His Tongue,  And He Not Willing To Speak,  For

Fear Of Their Answer."

 

"How Now,  Friend," Continued The Trapper,  Addressing The Still

Motionless And Entranced Naturalist; "How Now,  Friend; Are You,  Who

Make Your Livelihood By Booking The Names And Natur's Of The Beasts Of

The Fields And The Fowls Of The Air,  Frightened At A Herd Of

Scampering Buffaloes? Though,  Perhaps,  You Are Ready To Dispute My

Right To Call Them By A Word,  That Is In The Mouth Of Every Hunter And

Trader On The Frontier!"

 

The Old Man Was However Mistaken,  In Supposing He Could Excite The

Benumbed Faculties Of The Doctor,  By Provoking A Discussion. From That

Time,  Henceforth,  He Was Never Known,  Except On One Occasion,  To Utter

A Word That Indicated Either The Species,  Or The Genus,  Of The Animal.

He Obstinately Refused The Nutritious Food Of The Whole Ox Family,  And

Even To The Present Hour,  Now That He Is Established In All The

Scientific Dignity And Security Of A Savant In One Of The Maritime

Towns,  He Turns His Back With A Shudder On Those Delicious And

Unrivalled Viands,  That Are So Often Seen At The Suppers Of The Craft,

And Which Are Unequalled By Any Thing,  That Is Served Under The Same

Name,  At The Boasted Chop-Houses Of London,  Or At The Most Renowned Of

The Parisian Restaurants. In Short,  The Distaste Of The Worthy

Naturalist For Beef Was Not Unlike That Which The Shepherd Sometimes

Produces,  By First Muzzling And Fettering His Delinquent Dog,  And Then

Leaving Him As A Stepping Stone For The Whole Flock To Use In Its

Transit Over A Wall,  Or Through The Opening Of A Sheep-Fold; A Process

Which Is Said To Produce In The Culprit A Species Of Surfeit,  On The

Subject Of Mutton,  For Ever After. By The Time Paul And The Trapper

Saw Fit To Terminate The Fresh Bursts Of Merriment,  Which The

Continued Abstraction Of Their Learned Companion Did Not Fail To

Excite,  He Commenced Breathing Again,  As If The Suspended Action Of

His Lungs Had Been Renewed By The Application Of A Pair Of Artificial

Bellows,  And Was Heard To Make Use Of The Ever Afterwards Proscribed

Term,  On That Solitary Occasion,  To Which We Have Just Alluded.

 

"Boves Americani Horridi!" Exclaimed The Doctor,  Laying Great Stress

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On The Latter Word; After Which He Continued Mute,  Like One Who

Pondered On Strange And Unaccountable Events.

 

"Ay,  Horrid Eyes Enough,  I Will Willingly Allow," Returned The

Trapper; "And Altogether The Creatur' Has A Frightful Look,  To One

Unused To The Sights And Bustle Of A Natural Life; But Then The

Courage Of The Beast Is In No Way Equal To Its Countenance. Lord,  Man,

If You Should Once Get Fairly Beset By A Brood Of Grizzly Bears,  As

Happened To Hector And I,  At The Great Falls Of The Miss--Ah,  Here

Comes The Tail Of The Herd,  And Yonder Goes A Pack Of Hungry Wolves,

Ready To Pick Up The Sick,  Or Such As Get A Disjointed Neck By A

Tumble. Ha! There Are Mounted Men On Their Trail,  Or I'm No Sinner!

Here,  Lad; You May See Them Here-Away,  Just Where The Dust Is

Scattering Afore The Wind. They Are Hovering Around A Wounded

Buffaloe,  Making An End Of The Surly Devil With Their Arrows!"

 

Middleton And Paul Soon Caught A Glimpse Of The Dark Group,  That The

Quick Eye Of The Old Man Had So Readily Detected. Some Fifteen Or

Twenty Horsemen Were,  In Truth,  To Be Seen Riding,  In Quick Circuits,

About A Noble Bull,  Which Stood At Bay,  Too Grievously Hurt To Fly,

And Yet Seeming To Disdain To Fall,  Notwithstanding His Hardy Body Had

Already Been The Target For A Hundred Arrows. A Thrust From The Lance

Of A Powerful Indian,  However,  Completed His Conquest,  And The Brute

Gave Up His Obstinate Hold Of Life With A Roar,  That Passed Bellowing

Over The Place Where Our Adventurers Stood,  And,  Reaching The Ears Of

The Affrighted Herd,  Added A New Impulse To Their Flight.

 

"How Well The Pawnee Knew The Philosophy Of A Buffaloe Hunt!" Said The

Old Man,  After He Had Stood Regarding The Animated Scene For A Few

Moments,  With Evident Satisfaction. "You Saw How He Went Off Like The

Wind Before The Drove. It Was In Order That He Might Not Taint The

Air,  And That He Might Turn The Flank,  And Join--Ha! How Is This!

Yonder Red-Skins Are No Pawnees! The Feathers In Their Heads Are From

The Wings And Tails Of Owls.--Ah! As I Am But