Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet
Page 29
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
Two days did we remain in our shelter, to regain our strength and torest our horses. Thus deeply buried in the bosom of the earth, we weresafe from the devastating elements. On the second day we heardtremendous claps of thunder; we knew that a storm was raging which wouldquench the fire, but we cared little about what was going on above.
We had plenty to eat and to drink, our steeds were recovering fast, and,in spite of the horrors we had just undergone, we were not a littleamused by the lamentations of the parson, who, recollecting thedestruction of his shirts, forgot his professional duty, and sworeagainst Texas and the Texians, against the prairies, the buffaloes, andthe fire: the last event had produced so deep an impression upon hismind, that he preferred shivering all night by the banks of the torrentto sleeping near our comfortable fire; and as to eating of the delicatefood before him, it was out of the question; he would suck it, but notmasticate nor swallow it; his stomach and his teeth refused toaccomplish their functions upon the abhorred meat; and he solemnlydeclared that never again would he taste beef--cow or calf--tame orwild--even if he were starving.
One of the lawyers, too, was loud in his complaints, for although bornin the States, he had in his veins no few drops of Irish blood, andcould not forget the sacrifice Gabriel had made of the whisky. "Suchstuff!" he would exclaim, "the best that ever came into this land ofabomination, to be thrown in the face of dirty buffaloes! the devil takethem! Eh! Monsheer Owato Wanisha,--queer outlandish name, by thebye,--please to pass me another slice of the varmint (meaning thebuffalo-calf). Bless my soul, if I did not think, at one time, it wasafter the liquor the brutes were running!"
Upon the morning of the third day, we resumed our journey, following thestream down for a few miles, over thousands of dead animals, which thenow foaming torrent could not wash away. We struck the winding pathwhich the "estampedados" had taken; and as it had been worked by themillions of fugitives into a gentle ascent, we found ourselves, longbefore noon, once more upon the level of the prairie. What a spectacleof gloom and death! As far as the eye could reach, the earth was nakedand blackened. Not a stem of grass, not a bush, had escaped the awfulconflagration; and thousands of half-burnt bodies of deer, buffaloes,and mustangs covered the prairie in every direction.
The horizon before us was concealed by a high and rugged ridge of therolling prairie, towards which we proceeded but slowly, so completelywas the track made by the buffaloes choked by burnt bodies of alldescriptions of animals. At last we reached the summit of the swell,and perceived that we were upon one of the head branches of the TrinityRiver, forming a kind of oblong lake, a mile broad, but exceedinglyshallow; the bottom was of a hard white sandy formation, and as wecrossed this beautiful sheet of clear water, the bottom appeared to bestudded with grains of gold and crystals.
This brought round the characteristic elasticity of temper belonging tothe Americans, and caused the doctor to give way to his mentalspeculations:--He would not go to Edinburgh; it was nonsense; here was afortune made. He would form a company in New York, capital one millionof dollars--the Gold, Emerald, Topaz, Sapphire, and AmethystAssociation, in ten thousand shares, one hundred dollars a-piece. Infive years he would be the richest man in the world; he would build tencities on the Mississippi, and would give powder and lead to theComanches for nothing, so that they could at once clear the world ofTexians and buffaloes. He had scarcely finished, when we reached theother side of the lake; there we had to pass over a narrow ridge,covered with green bushes, but now torn and trampled down; the herds hadpassed over there, and the fire had been extinguished by the waters ofthis "fairy lake," for so we had baptised it. Half an hour more broughtus clear out from the cover, and a most strange and unusual sight waspresented to our eyes.
On a rich and beautiful prairie, green and red, the wild clover and theroses, and occasionally a plum-tree, varying the hues, were lyingprostrate, as far as the eye could reach, hundreds of thousands ofanimals of all species, some quietly licking their tired limbs, andothers extending their necks, without rising, to graze upon the softgrass around them. The sight was beautiful above all description, andrecalled to mind the engravings of the creation affixed to the oldBibles. Wolves and panthers were lying but a few paces from a smallflock of antelopes; buffaloes, bears, and horses were mixed together,every one of them incapable of moving from the spot on which they haddropped from exhaustion and fatigue.
We passed a large jaguar, glaring fiercely at a calf ten feet from him;on seeing us, he attempted to rise, but, utterly helpless, he bent hisbody so as to form a circle, concealing his head upon his breast underhis huge paws, and uttered a low growl, half menacing, half plaintive.Had we had powder to waste, we would certainly have rid the gramnivorousfrom many of their carnivorous neighbours, but we were now entering atract of country celebrated for the depredations of the Texians andBuggles free bands, and every charge of powder thrown away was a chancethe less, in case of a fight.
As by this time our horses were in want of rest, we took off theirsaddles, and the poor things feasted better than they had done for along while. As for us, we had fortunately still a good supply of thecold calf, for we felt a repugnance to cut the throats of any of thepoor broken-down creatures before us. Close to us there was a finenoble stag, for which I immediately took a fancy. He was so worn outthat he could not even move a few inches to get at the grass, and hisdried, parched tongue shewed plainly how much he suffered from the wantof water. I pulled up two or three handfuls of clover, which Ipresented to him, but though he tried to swallow it, he could not.
As there was a water-hole some twenty yards off, I took the doctor's furcap, and filling it with water, returned to the stag. What anexpressive glance! What beautiful eyes! I sprinkled at first somedrops upon his tongue, and then, putting the water under his nose, hesoon drained it up. My companions became so much interested with thesufferings of the poor animals, that they took as many of the youngfawns as they could, carrying them to the edge of the water-hole, thatthey might regain their strength and fly away before the wolves couldattack them.
Upon my presenting a second capful of water to the stag, the gratefulanimal licked my hands, and, after having drunk, tried to rise to followme, but its strength failing, its glances followed me as I was walkingto and fro; they spoke volumes; I could understand their meaning. Ihate to hear of the superiority of man! Man is ungrateful as a viper,while a horse, a dog, and many others of the "soulless brutes," willnever forget a kindness.
I wondered what had become of our three lawyers, who had wandered awaywithout their rifles, and had been more than two hours absent. I wasabout to propose a search after them when they arrived, with theirknives and tomahawks, and their clothes all smeared with blood. Theyhad gone upon a cruise against the wolves, and had killed the brutesuntil they were tired and had no more strength to use their arms.
The reader, comfortably seated in his elbow-chair, cannot comprehend thehatred which a prairie traveller nourishes against the wolves. As soonas we found out what these three champions of the wilderness had beenabout, we resolved to encamp there for the night, that we might destroyas many as we could of these prairie sharks. Broken-down as they were,there was no danger attending the expedition, and, tightening on ourbelts, and securing our pistols, in case of an attack from a recoveringpanther, we started upon our butchering expedition. On our way we metwith some fierce-looking jaguars, which we did not think prudent toattack, so we let them alone, and soon found occupation enough for ourknives and tomahawks among a close-packed herd of wolves.
How many of these detested brutes we killed I cannot say, but we did notleave off until our hands had become powerless from exhaustion, and ourtomahawks were so blunted as to be rendered of no use. When we left thescene of massacre, we had to pass over a pool of blood ankle-deep, andsuch was the bowling of those who were not quite dead, that the deer andelk were in every direction struggling to rise and fly [see note 1]. Wehad been employed mor
e than four hours in our work of destruction, whenwe returned to the camp, tired and hungry. Roche had kicked up abear-cub, which the doctor skinned and cooked for us while we weretaking our round to see how our proteges were going on. All those thathad been brought up to the water-hole were so far recovered that theywere grazing about, and bounded away as soon as we attempted to nearthem. My stag was grazing also, but he allowed me to caress him, justas if we had been old friends, and he never left the place until thenext morning, when we ourselves started.
The doctor called us for our evening meal, to which we did honour, for,in addition to his wonderful culinary talents, he knew some plants,common in the prairies, which can impart even to a bear's chop a mostsavoury and aromatic flavour. He was in high glee, as we praised hisskill, and so excited did he become, that he gave up his proposal of the"Gold, Emerald, Topaz, Sapphire, and Amethyst Association, in tenthousand shares," and vowed he would cast away his lancet and turn cookin the service of some bon vivant, or go to feed the padres of a Mexicanconvent, he boasted that he could cook the toughest old woman, so as tomake the flesh appear as white, soft, and sweet as that of a springchicken; but upon my proposing to send him, as a cordon bleu, to theCayugas, in West Texas, or among the Club Indians of the Colorado of theWest, he changed his mind again, and formed new plans for theregeneration of the natives of America.
After our supper, we rode our horses to the lake, to water and bathethem, which duty being performed, we sought that repose which we weredoomed not to enjoy; for we had scarcely shut our eyes when a tremendousshower fell upon us, and in a few minutes we were drenched to the skin.The reader may recollect that, excepting Gabriel we had all of us leftour blankets on the spot where we had at first descried the prairie wasin flames, so that we were now shivering with cold, and, what was worse,the violence of the rain was such, that we could not keep our firealive. It was an ugly night, to be sure; but the cool shower saved thepanting and thirsty animals, for whose sufferings we had felt so much.All night we heard the deer and antelopes trotting and scamperingtowards the lake; twice or thrice the distant roars of the panthersshewed that these terrible animals were quitting our neighbourhood, andthe fierce growling of the contending wolves told us plainly that, ifthey were not strong enough to run, they could at least crawl and preyupon their own dead. It has been asserted that wolves do not prey upontheir own species, but it is a mistake, for I have often seen themattacking, tearing, and eating each other.
The warm rays of the morning sun at last dispersed the gloom and cloudsof night; deer, elks, and antelopes were all gone except my own stag, towhich I gave a handful of salt, as I had some in my saddle-bags. Somefew mustangs and buffaloes were grazing, but the larger portion,extending as far as the eye could reach, were still prostrate on thegrass. As to the wolves, either from their greater fatigue they hadundergone, or from their being glutted with the blood and flesh of theircompanions, they seemed stiffer than ever. We watered our horses,replenished our flasks, and, after a hearty meal upon the cold flesh ofthe bear, we resumed our journey to warm ourselves by exercise and dryour clothes, for we were wet to the skin, and benumbed with cold.
The reader may be surprised at these wild animals being in the state ofutter exhaustion which I have described; but he must be reminded that,in all probability, this prairie fire had driven them before it forhundreds of miles, and that at a speed unusual to them, and whichnothing but a panic could have produced. I think it very probable thatthe fire ran over an extent of five hundred miles; and my reason for soestimating it is, the exhausted state of the carnivorous animals.
A panther can pass over two hundred miles or more at full speed withoutgreat exhaustion; so would a jaguar, or, indeed an elk.
I do not mean to say that all the animals, as the buffaloes, mustangs,deer, etcetera, had run this distance; of course, as the fire rolled on,the animals were gradually collected, till they had formed theastounding mass which I have described, and thousands had probablyalready perished, long before the fire had reached the prairie where wewere encamped; still I have at other times witnessed the extraordinaryexertions which animals are capable of when under the influence of fear.At one estampede, I knew some oxen, with their yokes on their necks, toaccomplish sixty miles in four hours.
On another occasion, on the eastern shores of the Vermilion Sea, Iwitnessed an estampede, and, returning twelve days afterwards, I foundthe animals still lying in every direction on the prairie, although muchrecovered from their fatigue. On this last occasion, the prairie hadbeen burnt for three hundred miles, from east to west, and there is nodoubt but that the animals had estampedoed the whole distance at theutmost of their speed.
Our horses having quite recovered from their past fatigue, we started ata brisk canter, under the beams of a genial sun, and soon felt the warmblood stirring in our veins. We had proceeded about six or seven miles,skirting the edge of the mass of buffaloes reclining on the prairie,when we witnessed a scene which filled us with pity. Fourteen hungrywolves, reeling and staggering with weakness, were attacking a splendidblack stallion, which was so exhausted, that he could not get up uponhis legs. His neck and sides were already covered with wounds, and hisagony was terrible. Now, the horse is too noble an animal not to find aprotector in man against such bloodthirsty foes; so we dismounted anddespatched the whole of his assailants; but as the poor stallion waswounded beyond all cure, and would indubitably have fallen a prey toanother pack of his prairie foes, we also despatched him with a shot ofa rifle. It was an act of humanity, but still the destruction of thisnoble animal in the wilderness threw a gloom over our spirits. Thedoctor perceiving this, thought it advisable to enliven us with thefollowing story:--
"All the New York amateurs of oysters know well the most jovialtavern-keeper in the world, old Slick Bradley, the owner of the`Franklin,' in Pearl-street. When you go to New York, mind to call uponhim, and if you have any relish for a cool sangaree, a mint jullep, or asavoury oyster-soup, none can make it better than Slick Bradley.Besides, his bar is snug, his little busy wife neat and polite, and ifyou are inclined to a spree, his private rooms up-stairs are comfortableas can be.
"Old Slick is good-humoured and always laughing; proud of his cellar, ofhis house, of his wife, and, above all, proud of the sign-post hangingbefore his door; that is to say, a yellow head of Franklin, painted bysome bilious chap, who looked in the glass for a model.
"Now Slick has kept house for more than forty years, and though he hasmade up a pretty round sum, he don't wish to leave off the business.No! till the day of his death he will remain in his bar, smoking hisHavannahs, and mechanically playing with the two pocket-books in hisdeep waistcoat pockets--one for the ten-dollar notes and above, theother for the fives, and under. Slick Bradley is the most independentman in the world; he jokes familiarly with his customers, and besidestheir bill of fare, he knows how to get more of their money by betting,for betting is the great passion of Slick; he will bet any thing, uponevery thing: contradict him in what he says, and down come the twopocket-books under your nose. `I know better,' he will say, `don't I?What will you bet--five, ten, fifty, hundred? Tush! you dare not bet,you know you are wrong:' and with an air of superiority andself-satisfaction, he will take long strides over his well-washed floor,repeating, `I know better.'
"Slick used once to boast that he had never lost a bet; but since alittle incident which made all New York laugh at him, he confesses thathe did once meet with his match, for though he certainly won the bet, hehad paid the stakes fifty times over. Now, as I heard the circumstancefrom the jolly landlord himself; here it goes, just as I had it, neithermore nor less.
"One day, two smart young fellows entered the `Franklin;' they alightedfrom a cab, and were dressed in the tip-top of fashion. As they werenew customers, the landlord was all smiles and courtesy, conducted theminto saloon Number 1, and making it up in his mind that his guests couldbe nothing less than Wall-street superfines, he resolved that theyshould not complain of his fare.
"`Eh, old Slick,' said one of the sparks, `capital dinner, by Jove; goodwine, fine cigars; plenty of customers, eh!'
"Slick winked; he was in all his glory, proud and happy.
"`Nothing better in life than a good dinner,' resumed the spark Number1; `some eat only to live--they are fools; I live only to eat, that isthe true philosophy. Come, old chap, let us have your bill, and mind,make it out as for old customers, for we intend to return often; don'twe?'
"This last part of the sentence was addressed to spark Number 2, who,with his legs comfortably over the corner of the table, was picking histeeth with his fork.
"`I shall, by jingo!' slowly drawled out Number 2, `dine well here!damned comfortable; nothing wanted but the Champagne.'
"`Lord, Lord! gentlemen,' exclaimed Slick, `why did you not say so?Why, I have the best in town.'
"`Faith, have you?' said Number 1, smacking his lips; `now have you thereal genuine stuff? Why then bring a bottle, landlord, and you mustjoin us; bring three glasses; by Jove, we will drink your health.'
"When Slick returned, he found his customers in high glee, and soconvulsive was their merriment, that they were obliged to hold theirsides. Slick laughed too, yet losing no time; in a moment, he presentedthe gentlemen with the sparkling liquor. They took their glasses, drankhis health, and then recommenced their mirth.
"`And so you lost the wager?' asked Number 2.
"`Yes, by Heaven, I paid the hundred dollars, and, what was worse, waslaughed at by every body.'
"Slick was sadly puzzled, the young men had been laughing, they were nowtalking of a bet, and he knew nothing of it. He was mightilyinquisitive; and knowing, by experience, that wine opens the heart andunlooses the tongue, he made an attempt to ascertain the cause of themerriment.
"`I beg your pardon, gentlemen, if I make too bold; but please, what wasthe subject of the wager the recollection of which puts you in so good ahumour?'
"`I'll tell you,' exclaimed Number 1, `and you will see what a fool Ihave made of myself. You must know that it is impossible to follow thependulum of the clock with the hand, and to repeat "Here she goes--thereshe goes," just as it swings to and fro, that is, when people aretalking all round you, as it puts you out. One day I was with a set ofjolly fellows in a dining-room, with a clock just like this in yourroom; the conversation fell upon the difficulty of going on "Here shegoes," and "there she goes," for half an hour, without making a mistake.Well, I thought it was the easiest thing in the world, to do it: and,upon my saying so, I was defied to do it: the consequence was a bet of ahundred dollars, and, having agreed that they could talk to me as muchas they pleased, but not touch me, I posted myself before the clock andwent on--"Here she goes, there she goes," while some of my companionsbegan singing, some shouting, and some laughing. Well, after threeminutes, I felt that the task was much more difficult than I hadexpected; but yet I went on, till I heard somebody saying, "As I amalive, there is Miss Reynolds walking arm in arm with that lucky dog,Jenkins." Now you must know, landlord, that Miss Reynolds was mysweetheart, and Jenkins my greatest enemy, so I rushed to the window tosee if it was true, and at that moment a roar of laughter announced tome that I had lost the bet.'
"Now Slick Bradley, as I have said, was very fond of betting. Moreover,he prided himself not a little upon his self-command, and as he had notany mistress to be jealous of, as soon as the gentleman had finished hisstory, he came at once to the point.
"`Well,' said he, `you lost the wager, but it don't signify. I thinkmyself, as you did, that it is the easiest thing in the world. I amsure I could do it half an hour, aye, and an hour too.'
"The gentlemen laughed, and said they knew better, and the now-excitedhost proposed, if the liberty did not offend them, to make any bet thathe could do it for half an hour. At first they objected, under the pleathat they would not like to win his money, as they were certain he hadno chance, but upon his insisting, they consented to bet twenty dollars;and Slick, putting himself face to face with his great grandfather'sclock, began following the pendulum with his hand, repeating `Here shegoes, there she goes.'
"The two gentlemen discovered many wonderful things through the window:first a sailor had murdered a woman, next the stage had just capsized,and afterwards they were sure that the shop next door was on fire.Slick winked and smiled complacently, without leaving his position. Hewas too old a fox to be taken by such childish tricks. All at once,Number 2 observed to Number 1, that the bet would not keep good, as thestakes had not been laid down, and both addressed the host at the sametime. `Not cunning enough for me,' thought Slick, and poking his lefthand into the right pocket of his waistcoat, he took out his pocket-bookcontaining the larger notes, and handed it to his customers.
"`Now,' exclaimed Number 2 to his companion, `I am sure you will losethe wager; the fellow is imperturbable; nothing can move him.'
"`Wait a bit; I'll soon make him leave off,' whispered the other, loudenough for Slick to hear him.
"`Landlord,' continued he, `we trust to your honour to go on for half anhour; we will now have a talk with bonny Mrs Slick.' Saying this, theyquitted the room without closing the door.
"Slick was not jealous. Not he; besides, the bar was full of people; itwas all a trick of the gents, who were behind the door watching him.After all they were but novices, and he would win their money, he onlyregretted that the bet had not been heavier.
"Twenty minutes had fairly passed, when Slick's own little boy enteredthe room. `Pa,' said he, `there is a gemman what wants you below in thebar.'
"`Another trick,' thought the landlord; `they shan't have me, though.--Here she goes, there she goes.' And as the boy approached near to himto repeat his errand, Slick gave him a kick. `Get away--Here she goes,there she goes.'
"The boy went away crying, and soon returned with Mrs Slick, who cried,in an angry tone, `Now don't make a fool of yourself; the gentleman yousold the town-lot to is below with the money.'
"`They shan't have me though,' said Slick to himself. And to all theinvectives and reproaches of Mrs Slick he answered only with, `Here shegoes, there she goes.' At last the long needle marked the half hour;and the landlord, having won the wager, turned round.
"`Where are they?' said he to his wife. `They; who do you mean?'answered she.
"`The two gentlemen, to be sure.'
"`Why, they have been gone these last twenty minutes.'
"Slick was thunderstruck, `and the pocket-book?' he uttered,convulsively.
"His wife looked at him with ineffable contempt.
"`Why, you fool, you did not give them your money, did you?'
"Slick soon discovered that he was minus five hundred dollars, besidesthe price of the two dinners. Since that time he never bets but cashdown, and in the presence of witnesses."
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Note 1. The prairie wolf is a very different animal from the commonwolf, as will be understood by the reader when I give a description ofthe animals found in California and Texas.