Part 6 (1/2)
”'What was it, dear Mary?' I cried, running up 'Where are the boys?-- they discharged the rifle, did they not?'
”'They did,' she replied; 'Harry fired at so'
”'At what?--at what?' I inquired
”'At some animal, I know not what kind; but I think they s and all, after the shot was fired, and have not yet come back'
”'In what direction?' I asked hurriedly
”Mary pointed out the direction; and, without waiting further, I ran off into the darkness When about an hundred yards from the fire, I ca over some animal which I saas quite dead Harry was not a little proud of the shot he had ratulate hi hold of the anis--for it had no tail to lay hold of--I dragged it forward to the light of the fire It appeared to be about the size of a sucking calf, thoughand slender, and its shanks not thicker than a co the breast and belly, but its large, languishi+ng eyes and slender forking horns told -horned antelope,--the only species of antelope found in North America
”Mary new related the adventure While they were sitting silently by the fire, and soon had delayed us considerably--they saw a pair of large eyes glancing in the darkness like two candles, and notbut the eyes; but this of itself was sufficient to alarht be a wolf, or, perhaps still worse, a hear or panther They did not lose presence ofaould be impossible; so both Frank and Harry took hold of their rifles--though Harry was foremost with his He then ai eyes, and pulled trigger Of course the smoke blinded them, and in the darkness they could not tell whether the bullet had hit the anis--who up to this ti to their feet, and ran out in pursuit They could hear the for sole, and then they were silent; so they concluded--what afterwards proved to be the case--that Harry had wounded the ani it And so they were, for as the boys got to the spot they had just killed it; and--hungry as they were-- would soon have ood time to prevent them The antelope had been shot in the shoulder, and had only run for a short distance before it fell
”Although Harry did not boast of his prowess, I saw that he had a triumphant look,--the ainst hunger for three days at the least; and, considering that only an hour before we did not knohere the next meal was to come froht just then of the surprise I had prepared for theon which contained all our utensils and comforts, but in the recovery of our best ox
”'Where is Cudjo?' askedthe blankets?'
”'Yes,' said I, knowingly, 'and a good load besides'
”At that reat tilt of white canvass was seen, far out, reflecting back the blaze of the fire
Frank leaped to his feet, and, clapping his hands with delight, cried out,--
”'Maon!'
”Then was heard the loud voice of Cudjo in a joyous 'Wo-ha!' and the htly as if the pull had been a atelle; and they could have stood it an hundredboth of therass and water
”As it was now late in the night, and ere all very tired, froone, we deter to rest Mary went to prepare a bed in the wagon,--for this was our only tent, and a very excellent tent it was, too At the sa the antelope, so that weThe dogs, too, were interested in this operation,--for they, poor brutes, up to this time, had fared worse than any of us However, the head, feet, and intestines, fell to their share; and they soon had a supper to their hearts' content
Having finished skinning the antelope, we tied a rope to its legs, and slung it up to the branch of a tree--high enough to be out of the reach of wolves, as well as our own dogs, during the night
”Mary had by this ti; and but one thingto rest That was a duty which we never neglected when circu perforon the only book which it contained--the Bible Cudjo turned up the pine logs upon the fire; and, seating ourselves around the blaze, I read froes which were most appropriate to our own situation,--how God had preserved Moses and the children of Israel in the Desert Wilderness
”Then, with clasped hands and grateful hearts, we all knelt, and offered thanks for our own almost miraculous deliverance”
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE BIGHORNS
”Nextere up by the earliest break of day, and had the pleasure of witnessing a beautiful phenomenon in the sunrise The whole country to the east, as far as we could see, was a level plain; and the horizon, of course, reselobe of the sun appeared above it, one could have fancied that he was rising out of the earth itself--although he was more than ninety millions of miles distant from any part of it It was a beautiful sky into which the sun was slowly cli up It was of a pale blue colour, and without the sh table-plains in the interior of A a cloud as big as a kite We were all in better spirits, for we had rested well, and had no longer any fear of being followed by the savages who had massacred our companions They would have been fools, indeed, to have otten froht of our antelope, with its nice yellow fat, crisped by the cold night-air, was anything but disheartening As Cudjo was a dexterous butcher, I allowed him to quarter it, while I shouldered the axe and marched off to the mountain-foot to procureher pots, pans, and platters, scouring and washi+ng them all in the clear streaon as weover the vessels Fortunately we had a good stock of these utensils--consisting of a gridiron, a large ca-dish, a first-rate coffee-pot and mill, half-a-dozen tin-cups and plates, with an assorts we had laid in at Saint Louis, by the advice of our Scotch friend, who know very hat articles were required for a journey across the Desert
”I was not long in getting the wood, and our fire was soon replenished and blazing brightly Mary attended to the coffee, which she parched in one of the ridiron and broiled the venison-steaks, while Cudjo collected a large supply of locust-beans, and roasted them These last were to serve us for bread, as we had neither ht from Saint Louis had been exhausted several days before; and we had lived altogether upon dried beef and coffee Of this last article ere very sparing, as we had not over a pound of it left, and it was our ar whatever, nor cream, but we did not mind the want of either, as those who travel in the wilderness find coffee very palatable without them--perhaps quite as ar and the yellowest of cream, to the pampered appetites of those who live always at home But, after all, we should not have to drink our coffee without sweetening, as I observed that Frank, while extracting the beans of the locust, was also scraping the honeyed pulp fro it to one side He had already collected nearly a plate full Well done, Frank!
”The great on; and the lid of this, with a cloth spread over it, served us for a table For seats we had rolled several large stones around the chest; and upon these we sat drinking the delicious coffee, and eating the savoury steaks of venison
”While ere thus pleasantly engaged, I observed Cudjo suddenly rolling the whites of his eyes upwards, at the sa,--
”'Golly! Massa--Massa--lookee yonder!'