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

Forest Of Maple Trees,

The Ground Now Rising In gentle Swells For Several Miles, When The

Fir-Pines, Succeeding To The Maple, Told Us That We Had Reached the

Highest Point Of The Hills. Hearing Some Trampling and Rustling at A

Distance, I Spurred my Horse To Take The Lead And Have The First Chance

Of A Shot, When I Perceived to My Left, Not Twenty Yards From Me And In

A Small Patch Of Briars, A Large She-Bear Playing With Her Cub. I Was

Just Raising My Rifle To Fire, When Boone'S Voice Called me Back, And I

Perceived that He And Finn Had Just Dismounted and Entered a Thicket.

Knowing That They Must Have An Object In view, I Joined them, And Asked

Them What Was The Matter.

 

 

 

"Rare Sport," Answered finn, Extending His Hand Towards A Precipitous

And Rocky Part Of The Mountain.

 

 

 

It Was Sport, And Of A Very Singular Description.

 

 

 

A Large Deer Was Running at Full Speed, Closely Pursued by A Puma. The

Chase Had Already Been A Long One, For As They Came Nearer And Nearer, I

Could Perceive Both Their Long Parched tongues Hanging Out Of Their

Mouths, And Their Bounding, Though Powerful, Was No Longer So Elastic As

Usual. The Deer, Having Now Arrived within Two Hundred yards Of The

Bear, Stopped a Moment To Sniff The Air; Then Coming Still Nearer, He

Made A Bound, With His Head Extended, To Ascertain If Bruin Was Still

Near Him. As The Puma Was Closing With Him, The Deer Wheeled sharp

Round, And Turning Back Almost Upon His Own Trail, Passed within Thirty

Yards Of His Pursuer, Who, Not Being able At Once To Stop His Career,

Gave An Angry Growl And Followed the Deer Again, But At A Distance Of

Some Hundred yards; Hearing The Growl, Bruin Drew His Body Half Out Of

The Briars, Remaining Quietly On The Look-Out.

 

 

 

"Gone," I Exclaimed.

 

 

 

"Wait A Bit," Answered boone; "Here He Comes Again."

 

 

 

He Was Right; The Deer Again Appeared, Coming Towards Us, But His Speed

Was Much Reduced, And As He Approached us, It Was Evident That The

Animal Was Calculating His Distance With Precision. The Puma, Now

Expecting To Seize His Prey, Followed about Thirty Yards Behind; The

Bear, Aware Of The Close Vicinity Of Her Enemy, Cleared the Briars And

Squared herself For Action, When The Deer, With A Beautiful And Powerful

Spring, Passed the Bear'S Head And Disappeared. At The Moment He Took

The Leap, The Puma Was Close Upon Him, And Was Just Balancing Himself

For A Spring, When He Perceived, To His Astonishment, That Now He Was

Faced by A Formidable Adversary, Not The Least Disposed to Fly. He

Crouched, Lashing His Flanks With His Long Tail, While The Bear, About

Five Yards From Him, Remained like A Statue Looking at The Puma With His

Little Glaring Eyes.

 

 

 

One Minute They Remained thus; The Puma, Its Sides Heaving With

Exertion, Agitated, And Apparently Undecided; The Bear, Perfectly Calm

And Motionless. Gradually The Puma Crawled backwards, Till At A Right

Distance For A Spring, When, Throwing all Its Weight Upon Its Hind

Parts, To Increase Its Power, It Darted upon The Bear Like Lightning,

And Fixed its Claws Into Her Back. The Bear, With Irresistible Force,

Seized the Puma With Her Two Fore-Paws, Pressing It With All The Weight

Of Her Body And Rolling Over It. We Heard A Heavy Grunt, A Plaintive

Howl, A Crashing Of Bones, And The Puma Was Dead. The Cub Of The Bear

Came To Ascertain What Was Going On, And After A Few Minutes'

Examination Of The Victim, It Strutted down The Slope Of The Hill,

Followed by Its Mother, Which Was Apparently Unhurt. We Did Not Attempt

To Prevent Their Retreat, For Among Real Hunters In the Wilds, There Is

A Feeling Which Restrains Them From Attacking an Animal Which Has Just

Undergone A Deadly Strife. This Is A Very Common Practice Of The Deer,

When Chased by A Puma--That Of Leading Him To The Haunt Of A Bear; I

Have Oftened witnessed it, Although I Never Before Knew The Deer To

Turn, As It Did In this Instance.

 

 

 

This Incident Reminds Me Of Another, Which Was Witnessed by Gabriel, A

Short Time Before The Murder Of The Prince Seravalle. Gabriel Had Left

His Companions, To Look After Game, And He Soon Came Upon The Track Of A

Wild Boar, Which Led to A Grove Of Tall Persimon Trees; Then, For The

First Time, He Perceived that He Had Left His Pouch And Powder-Horn In

The Camp; But He Cared little About It, As He Knew That His Aim Was

Certain. When Within Sixty Yards Of The Grove, He Spied the Boar At The

Foot Of One Of The Outside Trees: The Animal Was Eating The Fruit Which

Had Fallen. Gabriel Raised his Eyes To The Thick-Leaved branches Of The

Tree, And Perceived that There Was A Large Black Bear In the Tree, Also

Regaling Himself With The Fruit. Gabriel Approached to Within Thirty

Yards, And Was Quite Absorbed with The Novelty Of The Sight.

 

 

 

At Every Motion Of Bruin, Hundreds Of Persimons Would Fall Down, And

These, Of Course Were The Ripest. This The Bear Knew Very Well, And It

Was With No Small Jealousy That He Witnessed the Boar Below Making So

Luxurious A Meal At His Expense, While He Could Only Pick The Green

Fruit, And That With Difficulty, As He Dared not Trust His Body Too Far

Upon The Smaller Limbs Of The Tree. Now And Then He Would Growl

Fiercely, And Put His Head Down, And The Boar Would Look At Him With A

Pleased and Grateful Motion Of The Head, Answering The Growl By A Grunt,

Just As To Say, "Thank You; Very Polite To Eat The Green Ones And Send

Me The Others." This Bruin Understood, And He Could Bear It No Longer;

He Began To Shake The Tree Violently, Till The Red persimons Fell Like A

Shower Around The Boar; Then There Was A Duet Of Growls And

Grunts--Angry And Terrific From The Bear Above, Denoting Satisfaction

And Pleasure On The Part Of The Boar Below.

 

 

 

Gabriel Had Come In pursuit Of The Boar, But Now He Changed his Mind,

For, Considering The Present Angry Mood Of Bruin, He Was Certain To Be

Attacked by Him If Discovered. As To Going away, It Was A Thing He Would

Not Think Of, As Long As His Rifle Was Loaded; So He Waited and Watched,

Until The Bear Should Give Him An Opportunity Of Aiming at A Vital Part.

This He Waited for In vain, And, On Reflection, He Determined to Wound

The Bear: For, Knowing The Humour Of The Animal, He Felt Almost Positive

It Would Produce A Conflict Between Him And The Boar, Which The Bear

Would Attack In his Wrath. He Fired; The Bear Was Evidently Wounded,

Although But Slightly, And He Began Roaring and Scratching His Neck In a

Most Furious Manner, And Looking Vindictively At The Boar, Which, At The

Report Of The Rifle, Had Merely Raised his Head For A Moment, And Then

Resumed his Meal. Bruin Was Certainly Persuaded that The Wound He Had

Received had Been Inflicted by The Beast Below. He Made Up His Mind To

Punish Him, And, To Spare The Trouble And Time Of Descending, Dropped

From The Tree, And Rushed upon The Boar, Which Met Him At Once, And,

Notwithstanding Bruin'S Great Strength, He Proved to Him That A Ten

Years' Old Wild Boar, With Seven-Inch Tusks, Was A Very Formidable

Antagonist. Bruin Soon Felt The Tusks Of The Boar Ripping Him Up; Ten

Or Twelve Streams Of Blood Were Rushing From His Sides, Yet He Did Not

Give Way; On The Contrary, He Grew Fiercer And Fiercer, And At Last The

Boar Was Almost Smothered under The Huge Paws Of His Adversary. The

Struggle Lasted a Few Minutes More, The Grunting and Growling Becoming

Fainter And Fainter, Till Both Combatants Lay Motionless. They Were Dead

When Gabriel Came Up To Them; The Bear Horribly Mangled, And The Boar

With Every Bone Of His Body Broken. Gabriel Filled his Hat With The

Persimons Which Were The Cause Of This Tragedy, And Returned to The Camp

For Help And Ammunition.

 

 

 

Finn, Boone, And I Resumed our Journey, And After A Smart Ride Of Two

Hours We Entered upon A Beautiful Spot, Called "Magnet Cove." This Is

One Of The Great Curiosities Of The Arkansas, And There Are Few Planters

Who Do Not Visit It At Least Once In their Lives, Even If They Have To

Travel A Distance Of One Hundred miles.

 

 

 

It Is A Small Valley Surrounded by Rocky Hills, One Or Two Hundred feet

High, And Forming a Belt, In the Shape Of A Horse-Shoe. From These Rocks

Flow Hundreds Of Sulphuric Springs, Some Boiling and Some Cold, All

Pouring Into Large Basins, Which Their Waters Have Dug Out During Their

Constant Flow Of So Many Centuries. These Mineral Springs Are So Very

Numerous In this Part Of The Country, That They Would Scarcely Be Worth

Mentioning, Were It Not That In this Valley, For More Than A Mile In

Circumference, The Stones And Rocks, Which Are Of A Dull Black Colour

And Very Heavy, Are All Magnetic.

 

 

 

It Is A Custom For Every Visitor To Bring With Him Some Pieces Of Iron,

To Throw Against The Rocks: The Appearance Is Very Strange; Old

Horse-Shoes, Forks, Knives, Bars Of Iron, Nails, And Barrels Of Pistols,

Are Hanging From The Projecting Stones, The Nails Standing Upright, As

If They Were Growing. These Pieces Of Iron Have Themselves Become Very

Powerfully Magnetic. I Picked up A Horse-Shoe, Which I Afterwards Found

Lifted a Bar Of Steel Of Two Pounds Weight.

 

 

 

Half A Mile From This Singular Spot Dwelt Another Old Pioneer, A Friend

Of My Companions, And At His Cabin We Stopped to Pass The Night. Our

Host Was Only Remarkable For His Great Hospitality And Greater

Taciturnity; He Had Always Lived in the Wilds, Quite Alone, And The Only

Few Words He Would Utter Were Incoherent. It Appeared as If His Mind Was

Fixed upon Scenes Of The Past. In his Early Life He Had Been One Of The

Companions Of The Celebrated pirate La Fitte, And After The Defence Of

New Orleans, In which The Pirates Played no Inconsiderable Part (They

Had The Management Of The Artillery), He Accepted the Free Pardon Of The

President, And Forcing His Way Through The Forests And Swamps Of

Louisiana, Was Never Heard Of For Five Or Six Years. Subsequently,

Circumstances Brought About An Intimacy Between Him And My Two

Companions, But, Contrary To The Habits Of Pioneers And Trappers, He

Never Reverted to His Former Adventures, But Always Evaded the Subject.

 

 

 

There Were Mysterious Rumours Afloat About Treasure Which Had Been

Buried by The Pirates In texas, Known Only To Him; A Thing Not

Improbable, As The Creeks, Lagoons, And Bays Of That Country Had Always

Been A Favourite Resort Of These Freebooters; But Nothing Had Ever Been

Extracted from Him Relative To The Question. He Was Now Living With An

Indian Woman Of The Flat-Head Tribe, By Whom He Had Several Children,

And This Was Also A Subject Upon Which The Western Farmers Had Much

To Say.

 

 

 

Had The Squaw Been A Creek, A Cherokee, Or An Osage Woman, It Would Have

Created no Surprise; But How Came He In possession Of A Woman Belonging

To So Distant A Tribe? Moreover, The Squaw Looked so Proud, So

Imperious, So Queenly; There Was A Mystery, Which Every One Was Anxious,

But Unable To Solve.

 

 

 

We Left Our Host Early In the Morning, And Arrived at Noon At The Hot

Springs, Where I Was To Part Company With My Entertaining Companions.

 

 

 

I Was, However, Persuaded to Remain Till The Next Morning, As Finn

Wished to Give Me A Letter For A Friend Of His In south Missouri. Of The

Hot Springs Of The Arkansas, I Can Give No Better Description, Than By

Quoting The Following Lines From A Little Rock Newspaper:--

 

 

 

"The Warm Springs Are Among The Most Interesting Curiosities Of Our

Country: They Are In great Numbers. One Of Them, The Central One, Emits

A Vast Quantity Of Water; The Ordinary Temperature Is That Of Boiling

Water. When The Season Is Dry, And The Volume Of Water Somewhat

Diminished, The Temperature Of The Water Increases.

 

 

 

"The Waters Are Remarkably Limpid And Pure, And Are Used by The People

Who Resort There For Health, For Culinary Purposes. They Have Been

Analyzed, And Exhibit No Mineral Properties Beyond Common Spring Water.

Their Efficacy, Then, For They Are Undoubtedly Efficacious To Many

Invalids That Resort There, Results From The Shades Of The Adjacent

Mountains, And From The Cool And Oxygenated mountain Breeze; The

Convenience Of Warm And Tepid Bathing; The Novelty Of Fresh And Mountain

Scenery, And The Necessity Of Temperance, Imposed by The Poverty Of The

Country And The Difficulty Of Procuring Supplies. The Cases In which The

Waters Are