MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Been More Than Two Hours Absent. I Was

About To Propose A Search After Them When They Arrived, With Their

Knives And Tomahawks, And Their Clothes All Smeared with Blood. They Had

Gone Upon A Cruise Against The Wolves, And Had Killed the Brutes Until

They Were Tired and Had No More Strength To Use Their Arms.

 

 

 

The Reader, Comfortably Seated in his Elbow-Chair, Cannot Comprehend The

Hatred which A Prairie Traveller Nourishes Against The Wolves. As Soon

As We Found Out What These Three Champions Of The Wilderness Had Been

About, We Resolved to Encamp There For The Night, That We Might Destroy

As Many As We Could Of These Prairie Sharks. Broken-Down As They Were,

There Was No Danger Attending The Expedition, And, Tightening On Our

Belts, And Securing Our Pistols, In case Of An Attack From A Recovering

Panther, We Started upon Our Butchering Expedition. On Our Way We Met

With Some Fierce-Looking Jaguars, Which We Did Not Think It Prudent To

Attack, So We Let Them Alone, And Soon Found Occupation Enough For Our

Knives And Tomahawks Among A Close-Packed herd Of Wolves.

 

 

 

How Many Of These Detested brutes We Killed i Cannot Say, But We Did Not

Leave Off Until Our Hands Had Become Powerless From Exhaustion, And Our

Tomahawks Were So Blunted as To Be Rendered of No Use. When We Left The

Scene Of Massacre, We Had To Pass Over A Pool Of Blood Ankle-Deep, And

Such Was The Howling Of Those Who Were Not Quite Dead, That The Deer And

Elk Were In every Direction Struggling To Rise And Fly[26]. We Had Been

Employed more Than Four Hours In our Work Of Destruction, When We

Returned to The Camp, Tired and Hungry. Roche Had Picked up A Bear-Cub,

Which The Doctor Skinned and Cooked for Us While We Were Taking Our

Round To See How Our _Proteges_ Were Going On. All Those That Had Been

Brought Up To The Water-Hole Were So Far Recovered that They Were

Grazing about, And Bounded away As Soon As We Attempted to Near Them. My

Stag Was Grazing also, But He Allowed me To Caress Him, Just As If We

Had Been Old Friends, And He Never Left The Place Until The Next

Morning, When We Ourselves Started.

 

 

 

[Footnote 26: The Prairie Wolf Is A Very Different Animal From The

Common Wolf And Will Be Understood By The Reader When I Give A

Description Of The Animals Found In california And Texas.]

 

 

 

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 Most

Savoury And Aromatic Flavour. He Was In high Glee, As We Praised his

Skill, And So Excited did He Become, That He Gave Up His Proposal Of The

"Gold, Emerald, Topaz, Sapphire, And Amethyst Association, In ten

Thousand Shares," And Vowed he Would Cast Away His Lancet And Turn Cook

In The Service Of Some _Bon Vivant_, Or Go To Feed the Padres Of A

Mexican Convent. He Boasted that He Could Cook The Toughest Old Woman,

So As To Make The Flesh Appear As White, Soft, And Sweet As That Of A

Spring Chicken; But Upon My Proposing To Send Him, As A _Cordon Bleu_,

To The Cayugas, In west Texas, Or Among The Club Indians, Of The

Colorado Of The West, He Changed his Mind Again, And Formed new Plans

For The Regeneration Of The Natives Of America.

 

 

 

After Our Supper, We Rode Our Horses To The Lake, To Water And Bathe

Them, Which Duty Being Performed, We Sought That Repose Which We Were

Doomed not To Enjoy; For We Had Scarcely Shut Our Eyes When A Tremendous

Shower 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 Left

Our Blankets On The Spot Where We Had At First Descried the Prairie Was

In 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 Fire

Alive. It Was An Ugly Night, To Be Sure; But The Cool Shower Saved the

Panting and Thirsty Animals, For Whose Sufferings We Had Felt So Much.

All Night We Heard The Deer And Antelopes Trotting and Scampering

Towards The Lake; Twice Or Thrice The Distant Roars Of The Panthers

Showed that These Terrible Animals Were Quitting Our Neighbourhood, And

The Fierce Growling Of The Contending Wolves Told Us Plainly That, If

They Were Not Strong Enough To Run, They Could At Least Crawl And Prey

Upon Their Own Dead. It Has Been Asserted that Wolves Do Not Prey Upon

Their Own Species, But It Is A Mistake, For I Have Often Seen Them

Attacking, Tearing, And Eating Each Other.

 

 

 

The Warm Rays Of The Morning Sun At Last Dispersed the Gloom And Clouds

Of Night; Deer, Elks, And Antelopes Were All Gone Except My Own Stag, To

Which I Gave A Handful Of Salt, As I Had Some In my Saddle-Bags. Some

Few Mustangs And Buffaloes Were Grazing, But The Larger Portion,

Extending as Far As The Eye Could Reach, Were Still Prostrate On The

Grass. As To The Wolves, Either From Their Greater Fatigue They Had

Undergone, Or From Their Being Glutted with The Blood And Flesh Of Their

Companions, They Seemed stiffer Than Ever. We Watered our Horses,

Replenished our Flasks, And, After A Hearty Meal Upon The Cold Flesh Of

The Bear, We Resumed our Journey To Warm Ourselves By Exercise And Dry

Our 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 Of

Utter Exhaustion Which I Have Described; But He Must Be Reminded that,

In All Probability, This Prairie Fire Had Driven Them Before It For

Hundreds Of Miles, And That At A Speed unusual To Them, And Which

Nothing But A Panic Could Have Produced. I Think It Very Probable That

The Fire Ran Over An Extent Of Five Hundred miles; And My Reason For So

Estimating It Is, The Exhausted state Of The Carnivorous Animals.

 

 

 

A Panther Can Pass Over Two Hundred miles Or More At Full Speed without

Great Exhaustion; So Would A Jaguar, Or, Indeed an Elk.

 

 

 

I Do Not Mean To Say That All The Animals, As The Buffaloes, Mustangs,

Deer, &C., Had Run This Distance; Of Course, As The Fire Rolled on, The

Animals Were Gradually Collected, Till They Had Formed the Astounding

Mass Which I Have Described, And Thousands Had Probably Already

Perished, Long Before The Fire Had Reached the Prairie Where We Were

Encamped; Still I Have At Other Times Witnessed the Extraordinary

Exertions Which Animals Are Capable Of When Under The Influence Of Fear.

At One Estampede, I Knew Some Oxen, With Their Yokes On Their Necks, To

Accomplish Sixty Miles In four Hours.

 

 

 

On Another Occasion, On The Eastern Shores Of The Vermilion Sea, I

Witnessed an Estampede, And, Returning Twelve Days Afterwards, I Found

The Animals Still Lying In every Direction On The Prairie, Although Much

Recovered from Their Fatigue. On This Last Occasion, The Prairie Had

Been Burnt For Three Hundred miles, From East To West, And There Is No

Doubt But That The Animals Had Estampedoed the Whole Distance At The

Utmost Of Their Speed.

 

 

 

Our Horses Having Quite Recovered from Their Past Fatigue, We Started at

A Brisk Canter, Under The Beams Of A Genial Sun, And Soon Felt The Warm

Blood 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 Hungry

Wolves, Reeling and Staggering With Weakness, Were Attacking a Splendid

Black Stallion, Which Was So Exhausted, That He Could Not Get Up Upon

His Legs. His Neck And Sides Were Already Covered with Wounds, And His

Agony Was Terrible. Now, The Horse Is Too Noble An Animal Not To Find A

Protector In man Against Such Bloodthirsty Foes; So We Dismounted and

Despatched the Whole Of His Assailants; But As The Poor Stallion Was

Wounded beyond All Cure, And Would Indubitably Have Fallen A Prey To

Another Pack Of His Prairie Foes, We Also Despatched him With A Shot Of

A Rifle. It Was An Act Of Humanity, But Still The Destruction Of This

Noble Animal In the Wilderness Threw A Gloom Over Our Spirits. The

Doctor Perceiving This, Thought It Advisable To Enliven Us With The

Following Story:--

 

 

 

"All The New York Amateurs Of Oysters Know Well The Most Jovial

Tavern-Keeper In the World, Old Slick Bradley, The Owner Of The

'Franklin,' In pearl-Street. When You Go To New York, Mind To Call Upon

Him, And If You Have Any Relish For A Cool Sangaree, A Mint-Julep, Or A

Savoury Oyster-Soup, None Can Make It Better Than Slick Bradley.

Besides, His Bar Is Snug, His Little Busy Wife Neat And Polite, And If

You Are Inclined to A Spree, His Private Rooms Up-Stairs Are Comfortable

As Can Be.

 

 

 

"Old Slick Is Good-Humoured and Always Laughing; Proud Of His Cellar, Of

His House, Of His Wife, And, Above All, Proud Of The Sign-Post Hanging

Before His Door; That Is To Say, A Yellow Head Of Franklin, Painted by

Some Bilious Chap, Who Looked in the Glass For A Model.

 

 

 

"Now Slick Has Kept House For More Than Forty Years, And Though He Has

Made 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 His

Havanas, And Mechanically Playing With The Two Pocket-Books In his Deep

Waistcoat Pockets--One For The Ten-Dollar Notes And Above, The Other For

The Fives, And Under. Slick Bradley Is The Most Independent Man In the

World; He Jokes Familiarly With His Customers, And Besides Their 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 Anything, Upon Everything:

Contradict Him In what He Says, And Down Come The Two Pocket-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 And Self-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 A

Little Incident Which Made All New York Laugh At Him, He Confesses That

He Did Once Meet With His Match, For Though He Certainly Won The Bet, He

Had Paid The Stakes Fifty Times Over. Now, As I Heard The Circumstance

From The Jolly Landlord Himself, Here It Goes, Just As I Had It, Neither

More Nor Less.

 

 

 

"One Day, Two Smart Young Fellows Entered the Franklin; They Alighted

From A Cab, And Were Dressed in the Tip-Top Of Fashion. As They Were New

Customers, The Landlord Was All Smiles And Courtesy, Conducted them Into

Saloon No. 1, And Making It Up In his Mind That His Guests Could Be

Nothing Less Than Wall Street Superfines, He Resolved that They Should

Not Complain Of His Fare.

 

 

 

"A Splendid Dinner Was Served to Them, With Sundry Bottles Of Old Wines

And Choice Havanas, And The Worthy Host Was Reckoning In his Mind All

The Items He Could Decently Introduce In the Bill, When Ding, Ding, Went

The Bell, And Away He Goes Up Stairs, Capering, Jumping, Smiling, And

Holding His Two Hands Before His Bow Window In front.

 

 

 

"'Eh, Old Slick,' Said One Of The Sparks, 'Capital Dinner, By Jove; Good

Wine, 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 No. 1;

'Some Eat Only To Live--They Are Fools; I Live Only To Eat, That Is The

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'T We?'

 

 

 

"This Last Part Of The Sentence Was Addressed to Spark No. 2, Who, With

His Legs Comfortably Over The Corner Of The Table, Was Picking His Teeth

With His Fork.

 

 

 

"'I Shall, By Jingo!' Slowly Drawled out No. 2, 'Dine Well Here! D---D

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 No. 1, Smacking His Lips; 'Now Have You The

Real Genuine Stuff? Why Then Bring a Bottle, Landlord, And You Must Join

Us; Bring Three Glasses; By Jove, We Will Drink Your Health.'

 

 

 

"When Slick Returned, He Found His Customers In high Glee, And So

Convulsive Was