The Gold Hunter's Adventures Or, Life In Australia Volume 2 ( Of 2 ) - William H. Thomes (large screen ebook reader txt) 📗
- Author: William H. Thomes
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We Saw The Lieutenant Clap His Hand Upon His Wound, And When He Withdrew
It, Blood Dripped From His Fingers.
"D----N The Cassiowary!" Murden Roared, Struggling To His Feet, And
Rubbing His Bruised Limbs; But We Did Not Stop To Hear His Complaints,
For The Bird Was Going Off Like A Frightened Deer, And If We Expected To
Make A Prize, There Was No Time To Lose.
We Struck Our Animals, And They Followed The Object Of Pursuit At The
Top Of Their Speed, Yet For The First Five Minutes We Did Not Gain An
Inch; And Even Rover, Who Had Joined In The Chase With Renewed Vigor
Found That He Had Got His Match For Once.
At Length We Got Clear Of The Dried Grass And Bushes, And Entered Upon
The Prairie, That Was As Smooth And Level As A House Floor, And Then We
Began To Gradually Gain Upon The Huge Bird In Spite Of Its Immense
Strides.
Our Course Led Directly Towards The Main Road, And We Could See A Dozen
Teams Leisurely Pursuing Their Journey, And We Hoped That The Drivers
Would Head The Bird And Cause It To Turn Towards Us, When An Opportunity
Would Offer For A Shot, For We Began To Give Up All Hope Of Making The
Capture Alive.
We Flew Over The Ground As Fast As The Horses Could Stretch, And The
Animals Seemed To Enjoy The Sport Equally As Well As Ourselves; In A Few
Minutes We Saw That The Teamsters Were Watching The Chase, And That A
Number Of Them Had Got Their Guns In Readiness To Give The Bird A Shot
In Case It Went Near Enough To Their Carts. That Was Something That We
Volume 2 Chapter 49 (Catching A Tarl As Well As A Cassiowary) Pg 36Did Not Desire, As We Wished The Honor Of Making The Capture; And Had We
Been Disposed To Trust To Our Revolvers, We Could Have Wounded The Bird
When It Unhorsed The Lieutenant And Left Him Sprawling In The Dirt.
The Eyes Of The Cassiowary Were As Sharp, However, As Our Own, And
Seeing The Danger In Front, Slackened Its Speed As Though Uncertain What
To Do, And We Took Advantage Of The Hesitancy To Urge The Pace Of Our
Horses To The Utmost, And Gained So Rapidly That Fred Determined To Try
His Reatta. He Whirled It Over His Head In True Mexican Style, And Threw
It, But The Mexican Science Was Not In The Act; It Struck Upon The
Bird's Back, And Then Slipped To The Ground.
Nothing Daunted, Fred Gathered Up His Rope Again, And By The Time That
It Was In His Hand The Chase Suddenly Stopped, Raised Its Long Neck, And
Attempted To Pass Between Us, And Again Seek Refuge Amidst The Grass
That Was Growing In Profusion On Our Right.
That Act Was Fatal To The Poor Bird, For Before It Could Gain Headway
Rover Had Caught One Of Its Long Legs In His Mouth And Bit So Hard That
A Shrill Shriek Was Elicited--Something Like The Cry Of An Enraged Ape.
Again Did The Bird Strike Him With Beak And Claw, But The Dog Held On
With The Tenacity Of A Death-Grip; And During The Struggle We Rode
Quickly Up And Threw Our Slip-Nooses Over That Long Neck, Which Had Cut
Through The Air With More Than Railroad Speed. Even Then, The Cassiowary
Seemed To Be More Concerned About Rover Than Ourselves, And Fought Him
Fiercely.
"Call Off The Dog," Shouted Fred; "We Have Him Sure, Now."
That Was A Task Of Some Difficulty, For Rover Had Got His Blood Up And
Was Fighting Desperately, Making The Feathers Fly In All Directions; And
Even His Antagonist Was Using All The Weapons That Nature Had Given Him,
And Was Striking Out Like A Prize-Fighter, Fighting With Wings And Beak,
And Sometimes With Feet, In A Manner That Would Have Excited The
Admiration Of A Cock-Fighting Padre.
By The Time That I Got Rover To Relinquish The Combat,--And During Its
Continuance I Did Not Escape Harmless,--The Teamsters Had Stopped Their
Oxen And Were Rushing Towards Us, Anxious To See What Kind Of An Animal
We Were Struggling With. The Bird Made Frantic Efforts To Escape, But By
Means Of The Rope We Were Enabled To Frustrate Them, And Were Getting
Him Quite Subdued When The Crowd Reached Us.
"What On Airth Is That?" Inquired A Man, Whose Voice Readily Proclaimed
His Nation.
"Why, That Is An Australian Turkey," Replied Murden, Who Joined Us At
That Instant, Looking Somewhat The Worse For His Trip, And We Noticed
That His Seat In The Saddle Was Not Very Firm.
"Why, You Don't Say That, 'Squire?" Asked Our New Acquaintance,
Approaching The Captive To Get A Nearer View.
"Yes, It Is. We Pasture Them Out A Little Ways, And When The People At
Volume 2 Chapter 49 (Catching A Tarl As Well As A Cassiowary) Pg 37Ballarat Feel Like Having A Feast We Catch One, But Sometimes They Get A
Little Wild."
"Wall, I Swow To Man, If That Don't Beat All That I Ever Heard Of, And
No Mistake. I've Seen Big Cock-Turkeys, And Uncle Josiah Raised One For
Last Thanksgiving That Was A Whopper, But This Knocks Him. I Say, What
Could I Get A Pair Of These 'Ere For?"
The Stranger Very Imprudently Laid His Hand Upon The Bird For The
Purpose Of Feeling His Condition, And What Proportion Of Flesh There Was
To Feathers. Hardly Had The Captive Felt His Touch When All Of His
Native Fierceness Returned, And While Our Countryman, With A Grave Face,
Was Still Expressing His Wonder, The Cassiowary Raised One Of His
Muscular Legs And Kicked Him Full On His Breast. In Another Instant The
American Was Going Backward At A Rapid Rate, And Finally Brought Up Full
Length Upon The Earth. For A Second He Didn't Move, Then Slowly
Gathering Up His Lank Form, He Looked First At The Cassiowary, And Then
At Murden, And Muttered,--
"Dod Rot Yer Australia Turkeys,--They Don't Know Manners."
The Crowd Roared With Laughter, And For A Long Time Our American Friend
Was Known By The Nickname Of "Turkey Johnson."
Volume 2 Chapter 50 (Arrival Of Smith.--Attempt To Burn The Store) Pg 38
Even After We Had Captured The Cassiowary We Did Not Know What To Do
With It, As Murden Would Not Listen For A Moment To The Idea Of Its
Being Killed, And Yet The Bird Was Too Formidable An Opponent To Play
With. While We Were Debating How To Get The Bird To Ballarat, An Old
Stockman, Who Upon The Discovery Of Gold Had Left His Employment And
Gone Into The Teaming Business, Suggested That We Should Tie A
Handkerchief Over His Head, And Guaranteed That We Would Then Lead As
Docile As A Pet Lamb.
"Now, Then, How Are We To Improve The Advice Of The Stockman?" Asked
Murden. "Who Will Throw A Handkerchief Over The Bird's Head, And Then
Have The Hardihood To Tie It?"
No One Volunteered To Perform So Perilous A Duty Until Our American
Friend, Who Had Recovered From The Effects Of His Kick, Suggested That
All Present Should Take Hold Of The Two Ropes, And By Pulling In
Volume 2 Chapter 50 (Arrival Of Smith.--Attempt To Burn The Store) Pg 39Opposite Directions Manage To Keep The Bird In A State Of Strangulation
That Would Utterly Prevent All Resistance.
Murden Was Delighted With The Hint, And Acted On It Without Delay. We
Pressed Those Present Into Service, And In A Few Minutes The Eyes Of The
Huge Bird Were Screened From The Light, And He Was Ready To Follow Us
Wherever We Should Lead. In This Way We Escorted Him To Town, And
Murden, When He Returned To Melbourne, Carried His Pet; And The Bird May
Be Alive Now For All That I Know, For The Lieutenant Gave Him To The
Governor-General, And For Many Months After The Presentation The
Cassiowary Was To Be Seen On The Grounds, Near The Palace, An Object Of
Great Curiosity To All New-Comers.
After Seeing The Bird Safely Housed At The Back Part Of Our Store, Where
We Kept Our Horses, And After Astonishing Steel Spring By Telling Him
That He Was To Make His Entree Into Melbourne On The Back Of The Bird,
We Again Took The Road, And Were Soon Gratified By Meeting Our Partner,
Smith, With Two Huge Loads Of Merchandise Of All Descriptions, And Each
Drawn By Four Yokes Of Oxen.
"Well, I've Got Along," He Said, With One Of His Most Cheerful Smiles,
"And A Precious Whack Of Itself I've Got Piled On The Carts. Here's A
Little Of Every Thing. Cheap For Cash, You Know."
"Then You Made Good Trades In Melbourne?" We Both Demanded.
"I Should Rather Think I Had. There's Three Or Four American Clipper
Ships In Port With Cargoes That Must Be Sold, And No Demand. I Bought A
Lot Of Stuff At Auction, And I Never Paid Such A Low Figure Before."
"But How Did You Manage To Get Clear Of Your Wife So Soon After
Marriage?" Fred Asked.
"Ah, I See That The Lieutenant Has Been Giving You The News," Replied
Smith, With A Genuine Blush. "Well, The Fact Of It Is, She Is Too
Sensible A Woman To Regret The Absence Of One Whom She Knows Is
Bettering Himself, So That There Were But Few Tears Shed Between Us."
The Lieutenant, With A Consideration That Did Him Credit, Rode In
Advance A Few Rods, Out Of Hearing, As He Rightly Judged That We Must
Desire To Make A Few Inquiries Of A Private Nature Respecting Our
Business Relation.
"Did You Get The Gold That Was In The Custody Of The Old--"
We Were About
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