Over the Rocky Mountains: Wandering Will in the Land of the Redskin by Ballantyne (desktop ebook reader .txt) đ
- Author: Ballantyne
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âTo think,â said Maryann, with a quiet laugh, as she handed a cup of tea to Buncoââto think that I should ever come for to sit at tea with a live red Indian from Amerikyânot that heâs red either, for Iâm sure that hany one with eyes in their âead could see that heâs only brown.â
âAh, my dear, thatâs âcause heâs changed colour,â said Larry, pushing in his cup for more tea. âHe wasnât always like that. Sure, when I first knowâd Bunco he was scarletâpure scarlet, only he took a fancy one day, when he was in a wild mood, to run his canoe over the falls of Niagara for a wager, anâ, faix, when he came up out oâ the wather after it he was turned brown, anâs bin that same ever since.â
âGammon,â exclaimed Maryann.
âSure ye donât misdoubt me word, Maryann,â said Larry reproachfully; âisnât it true, Bunco?â
âYoos a norribable liar, Larry,â answered Bunco with a broad grin.
Richards the coachman, who had been for some minutes too busy with the buttered toast and bacon to do more than listen and chuckle, here burst into a loud guffaw and choked himself partially. Jemima and Maryann also laughed, whereupon the baby, not to be outdone, broke suddenly into a tremendous crow, and waved its fat arms so furiously that it overturned a tea-cup and sent the contents into Buncoâs lap. This created a momentary confusion, and when calm was restored, Mrs Richards asked Maryann âif hanythink noo âad turned up in regard to the estate?â which she seemed to know so much about, but in regard to which she was, apparently, so unwilling to be communicative.
âNot so, Jemimar,â said Maryann, with a look of offended dignity, âunwillinâ to speak I am not, though unable I may beâat least I was so until yesterday, but I have come to know a little more about it since Master Will came âome while I chanced to be nearââ
Maryann hesitated a moment, and Richards, through a mouthful of toast, muttered âthe keyhole.â
âDid you speak, sir?â said Maryann, bridling.
âNo, oh! no, not by no means,â replied Richards, âonly the crust oâ this âere toast is rayther âard, and Iâm apt to growl wâen thatâs so.â
âIf the crust is âard, Mr Richards, your teeth is âarder, so you ought to scrunch âem without growling.â
âBrayvo, my dear,â exclaimed Larry, coming to the rescue; âyouâre more nor match for him, so be marciful, like a good sowl, anâ letâs hear about this estate, for it seems to me, from what Iâve heard, it must be somewhere in the neighbourhood of Buncoâs native place.â
Maryann, darting a look of mingled defiance and triumph at Richards, who became more than ever devoted to the toast and bacon, proceededâ
âWell, as I was a-sayinâ, I âeard Mrs Osten say to Master Will that his uncle Edwardâas was a scape somethinâ or otherâhad died anâ left a small estate behind the Rocky Mountains in Ameriky or Afriky, I aint sure which.â
âAmeriky, my dear,â observed Larry.
âAnâ she said as âow they âad discovered gold on it, which could be picked up in âandfuls, anâ it was somewhere near a place called Kally somethinâââ
âCalliforny?â cried Larry.
âYes, that was it.â
âI towld ye that, Bunco!â exclaimed the Irishman, becoming excited; âgo on, dear.â
âWell, it seems thereâs some difficulties in the matter, wich Iâm sure donât surprise me, for I never âeard of things as âad to do with estates and law as didnât create difficulties, and Iâm thankful as Iâve got nothinâ to do with none of such things. Well, the end of it all is that, wâen master was dyinâ, he made missis swear as sheâd urge Master Will to go to see after things hisself, anâ missis, poor dear, she would rather let the estate and all the gold go, if she could only keep the dear boy at âome, but sheâs faithful to her promise, anâ advises him to goâthe sooner the betterâbecause that would let him come back to her all the quicker. Master Will, he vowed at first that he would never more leave her, and I bâlieve he was in earnest, but when she spoke of his fatherâs wish, he gave in anâ said he would go, if she thought it his dooty so for to do.â
âHooray!â shouted Larry, jumping up at this point, and performing a species of war-dance for a few moments, and then sitting down and demanding another supply of tea. âDidnât I tell ye, Bunco, that the order would soon be up anchor anâ away again! Itâs Wanderinâ Will heâs been named, anâ Wanderinâ Will heâll remain, thatâs as plain as the nose on me face.â
âNo doubt the nose on your face is very plainâthe plainest I ever did see,â said Maryann sharply,ââbut youâre quite wrong about Master Will, for heâs very anxious to get married, I can tell you, anâ wants to settle down at âome, like a sensible man, though it does grieve my âeart to think of the creetur as has took him in in furrin parts.â
âGet married!â exclaimed Larry, Jemima, and Richards in the same breath.
âYes, get married,â replied Maryann, very full of the importance of her keyhole discoveries, and not willing to make them known too readily.
âHow did you come to know that, Maryhann?â asked Jemima; âare you sure of it?â
âHow I came for to know it,â replied the other, âis nobodyâs business (she paused a moment and looked sternly at Richards, but that sensible man continued to gaze steadfastly at his plate and to âscrunchâ crusts with grave abstraction), and, as to its beinâ true, all I can say is I had it from his own lips. Master Will has no objection to my knowing what he tells his motherâas no more he shouldnât, for Jemimar, you can bear me witness that Iâve been a second mother to him, anâ used to love him as if he were my ownâthough he was a aggrawatinâ hinfant, anâ used to bump his âead, anâ skin his knees, anâ tear his clothes, anâ wet his feet, in a way that often distracted me, though I did my very best to prevent it; but nothinkâs of any use tryinâ of wâen you canât do it; as my âusband, as was in the mutton-pie line, said to the doctor the night afore he diedâmy âeart used to be quite broke about him, so it did; but thatâs all past anâ goneâwell, as I was a-sayinâ, Master Will he told his mother as âow there was a young lady (so he called her) as âad won his âart, anâ she was a cannibal as lived on a coal island in the Paphysic Ocean. Then he told her some stories about the coal island as made my blood run cold, and said his Flora behaved like a heroine in the midst of it all.â
At this point Larry and Bunco exchanged meaning glances, and the former gave vent to a soft whistle, which he accompanied with a wink.
âIâm sure,â continued Maryann, âitâs past my comprehension; for instead of being dreadfully shocked, as I had expected, Mrs Osten threw her arms round Master Willâs neck and blessed him and the cannibal, too, and said she hoped to be spared to see âem united, though she wouldnât like them to remain on the coal island in the Paphysic. I do assure you, Jemimar,â continued Maryann, putting the corner of her apron to her eyes, âit quite gave me a turn, and I was nearly took bad wâen I âeard it. Master Will, he made his mother promise to keep it to herself, as, he said, not a soul in the world knew of it but him and herââ
Mr Richards coughed at this point, and appeared to be engaged in a severe conflict with an untractable crust, which caused Maryann to stop suddenly and look at him. But Larry again came to the rescue by sayingâ
âWhy, Maryann, my dear, yeâve bin anâ mistook a good deal of what youâve heard, intirely. This Flora Westwood is no cannibal, but wan oâ the purtiest bit craturs I iver had the good luck to set eyes on; as white as a lily, wid cheeks like the rose, not to spake of a smile anâ a timper of an angel. Sheâs a parsonâs daughter, too, anâ lives on a coral island in the Pacific Ocean, where the people is cannibals, no doubt, as Iâve good raison to know, for they ait up a lot oâ me shipmates, and it was by good luck they didnât ait up myself and Master Will tooâthough I do belaive theyâd have found me so tough that Iâd have blunted their teeth anâ soured on their stummicks, bad luck to them. But itâs surprised that I am to hear about this. Ah, then, Master Will, but yeâre a sly dogâmore cunninâ than I took ye for. Ye threw dust in the eyes of Larry OâHale, anyhow.â
Poor Maryann appeared much relieved by this explanation, although she felt it to be consistent with her dignity that she should throw considerable doubt on Larryâs statement, cross-question him pretty severely, and allow herself to be convinced only after the accumulation of an amount of evidence that could not be resisted.
âWell, now, that accounts for the way in which his mother received the news,â said Maryann.
âIt is a strange story,â remarked Jemima.
âUncommon,â observed Richards.
Bunco said nothing, but he grinned from ear to ear.
At that moment, as if it were aware of the climax at which the party had arrived, the baby, without a single note of warning, set up a hideous howl, in the midst of which the bell rang, and Maryann rose to answer it.
âMaster Will wants to speak to you, Mr Hale, and to Mr Bunco, too,â she said on returning.
âCome along, Mister Bunco,â said Larry, âthatâll be the order to trip our anchors.â
âMy friends,â said Will Osten, when the two were seated on the corners of their respective chairs in the drawing-room, âI sent for you to say that circumstances have occurred which render it necessary that I should visit California. Do you feel inclined to join me in this trip, or do you prefer to remain in England?â
âIâm yer man,â said Larry.
âSoâs me,â added Bunco.
âI thought so,â said Will, smiling; âwe have been comrades together too long to part yet. But I must start without delay, and mean to go by the plains and across the Rocky Mountains. Are you ready to set off on short notice?â
âIn half an hour av ye plaze, sur,â said Larry.
Bunco grinned and nodded his head.
âThe end of the week will do,â said Will, laughing; âso be off and make your preparations for a long and rough trip.â
In pursuance of this plan, Will Osten and his two staunch followers, soon after the date of the above conversation, crossed the Atlantic, traversed the great Lakes of Canada to the centre of North America, purchased, at the town of Saint Pauls, horses, guns, provisions, powder, shot, etcetera, for a long journey, and found themselves, one beautiful summer evening, galloping gaily over those wide prairies that roll beyond the last of the backwood settlements, away into the wild recesses of the Western Wilderness.
Wandering Will and his companions laid the reins on the necks of their half-tamed horses and galloped wildly away over the western prairie. Perhaps it was the feeling of absolute freedom from human restraints that excited them to the galloping and shouting condition of maniacs; perhaps it was the idea of sweeping over unbounded space in these interminable plains, or the influence of the fresh air around, the sunny blue sky overhead, and the flower-speckled sward underfootâperhaps it was all these put together, but, whatever the cause, our three travellers commenced their
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