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

The Darkness Would Render It More Difficult To

Take A Certain Aim. I Therefore Allowed the Dogs To Bark As Much As They

Pleased, And Forced my Way To My First Victim, The Tail Of Which I Also

Severed, As A Proof Of My Prowess. It, However, Occurred to Me That If

There Were Many More Panthers In the Cover, It Would Be Very Unsafe To

Return Alone To Where I Had Left My Horse. I Therefore Made Sure That My

Rifle Was In good Order, And Proceeded towards The Place Where The Dogs

Were Still Baying. There I Beheld Another Panther, But This Time It Was

A Sport Unattended by Any Danger, For The Animal Was A Very Young Cub,

Who Had Taken Refuge Fifteen Feet From The Ground Upon A Tree Which Had

Been Struck By Lightning, And Broken Off About Three Yards From Its

Roots. The Animal Was On The Broken Part Which Had Its Summit Entangled

In The Lower Branches Of Another Tree.

 

 

 

It Was Truly A Pretty Sight, As The Little Animal'S Tail, Hanging Down,

Served as A _Point De Mire_ To All The Dogs, Who Were Jumping Up To

Catch It. The Cub Was Delighted, Mewing With High Glee, Sometimes

Running Up, Sometimes Down, Just To Invite His Playfellows To Come To

Him. I Felt Great Reluctance To Kill So Graceful And Playful An Animal,

But It Became A Necessity, As No Endeavours Of Mine Could Have Forced

The Dogs To Leave It. I Shot Him, And, Tying Him Round My Neck, I Now

Began To Seek, With Some Anxiety, For The Place Where I Had Left

My Horse.

 

 

 

There Is But Little Twilight In america, In the Spring Of The Year

Especially; Great Was My Hurry, And Consequently Less Was My Speed. I

Lost My Trail, Bogged myself In a Swamp, Tore My Hands And Face With The

Briars, And, After An Hour Of Severe Fatigue, At Last Heard My Horse,

Who Was Impatient At Being Left Alone, Neighing Loudly. Though My

Distance To The House Was Only Eighteen Miles And The Road Quite Safe, I

Contrived to Lose Myself Three Or Four Times, Till, _En Desespoir_, I

Threw The Bridle On My Horse'S Neck, Trusting To His Instinct To

Extricate Me From My Difficulties.

 

 

 

It Was Nearly Midnight When I Approached the Back Fences Of Mr.

Courtenay'S Plantation, And I Wondered very Much At Seeing Torches

Glaring In every Direction. I Galloped rapidly Through The Lane, And

Learned from A Negro That The Family Had Long Returned home, And That

Supper Had Been, As Usual, Served at Eight O'Clock; That They Had Been

Anxiously Waiting For Me, And That Mr. Courtenay, Fearing Some Accident

Had Happened, Had Resolved to Go Himself In search Of Me With The Major

Portion Of His Negroes. Leaving My Horse To The Care Of The Slave, I Ran

Towards The House, Where The Dogs Had Already Announced my Arrival. The

Family Came Under The Portico To Welcome Me, And Simultaneously Asked me

What Could Have Detained me So Long. "I Have Caught The Robbers,"

Replied i, Approaching The Group, "I Have Killed them And Lost Two Dogs;

Here Are My _Spolia Opima_."

 

 

 

My Host Was Thunderstruck; He Was Too Much Of A Hunter Not To Be Able To

Estimate The Size Of The Animals By The Tokens I Had Brought With Me,

And He Had Believed that For The Last Twenty Or Thirty Years, Not One Of

These Terrible Animals Was Actually Living In the Country. The Fact Was

So Very Remarkable, That He Insisted on Going Himself That Very Night

With His Negroes To Skin The Animals; And, After A Hasty Meal, He Left

Us To Fulfil His Intentions. Relating My Adventures To My Kind Hostess

And Her Niece, I Had The Satisfaction Of Feeling That My Narrative

Excited emotions Which Could Only Arise From A Strong Interest In

My Welfare.

 

 

 

This Panther Story Got Wind, And Nothing Could Convince The Neighbouring

Farmers But The Very Sight Of The Skins. All The Western Newspapers

Related the Matter, And For Two Months At Least I Was Quite A "Lion."

 

 

 

A Few Days After That Adventure, The _Caroline_, The Largest And Finest

Steamboat Upon The Mississippi, Struck A Snag In coming Down The Stream,

And Sank Immediately. The River, However, Being Very Low, The Upper

Decks Remained above Water, And Help Coming Down From The Neighbouring

Plantations, All The Passengers Were Soon Brought On Shore Without Any

Loss Of Life. Three Hundred sheep, One Hundred hogs, Eighty Cows, And

Twelve Horses Were Left To Their Fate, And It Was A Painful Sight To

Witness The Efforts Of The Poor Brutes Struggling against The Powerful

Current And Looking Towards The People On Shore, As If To Implore

For Help.

 

 

 

Only One Pig, Two Cows, And Five Horses Ever Reached the Bank Of The

River, Many Disappearing Under The Repeated attacks Of The Gar-Fish, And

Other Monsters, And The Remainder Carried by The Stream To Feed the

Alligators And The Cawanas Of The South. But Very Few Objects On Board

Were Insured, And Hundreds Of Hogsheads Of Missouri Tobacco And Barrels

Of Kentucky Flour Were Several Days Afterwards Picked up By The Arkansas

And Tennessee Wreckers. Articles Thus Lost By Shipwreck Upon The

Mississippi Are Seldom Reclaimed, As The Principal Owners Of The Goods,

On Hearing The News, Generally Collect All The Property Which They Can,

Run Away, Change Their Names, And Enter Upon New Speculations In

Another State.

 

 

 

Among The Passengers On Board, Mr. Courtenay Recognized several Of His

Friends, Whom He Directly Invited into The Mansion, While Temporary

Sheds Were Erected for The Others, Till Steamboat Should Pass And Take

Them Off. So Sudden Had Been The Catastrophe, That No Luggage Of Any

Kind Had Been Saved, And Several Englishmen, Travelling To Purchase

Cotton And Minerals, Suffered very Serious Loss. As To The Americans

Themselves, Though They Complained very Loudly, Vowing They Would Bring

An Action Against The River, The Steamboats, Against Every Boat, And

Every Thing, For I Don'T Know How Many Millions Of Dollars, Their Losses

Were Very Trifling, As It Is The Custom For A Man In the Western States

To Carry All His Money In his Pocket-Book, And His Pocket-Book In his

Pocket; As To Luggage, He Never Has Any Except A Small Valise, Two Feet

Long, In which Are Contained a Shirt, Two Bosoms, Three Frills, A Razor,

And A Brush, Which May Serve For His Head, Clothing, Boots, And

Perhaps Teeth.

 

 

 

It Was Amusing To Hear All The Complaints That Were Made And To

Enumerate The Sums Which Were Stated to Have Been Lost; There Was Not

One Among The Travellers, Even Among Those Who Had Taken A Deck-Passage,

Who Had Not Lost From Ten To Fifty Thousand Dollars, With Which He Was

Going To Purchase A Cotton Plantation, A Steamboat, Or A Whole Cargo Of

Havannah Cigars. What Made It More Ridculous Was The Facility With Which

Everybody Found A Witness To Certify His Loss, "I Had Five Thousand

Dollars," One Would Say; "Ask The General, He Will Tell You If It Is

True." "True, As I Am An Honest Man," Would Answer The General, "To Wit,

That I Swapped with The Judge My Eastern Notes For His Southern Ones."

 

 

 

It Would Be Impossible To Explain To A Sober Englishman The Life That Is

Led on, And The Numerous Tricks That Are Played in, A Mississippi

Steamboat. One I Will Mention, Which Will Serve As A Sample. An

Itinerant Preacher, Well Known As A Knave Upon Both Banks, And The Whole

Length Of The River, Used (Before He Was Sent To The Penitentiary For

Picking Pockets) To Live Comfortably In the Steamboats Without Ever

Paying a Farthing. From St. Louis He Would Book For New Orleans, And The

Passage-Money Never Being asked in the West But At The Termination Of

The Trip, The Preacher Would Go On Shore At Vicksburg, Natches, Bayou,

Sarah, Or Any Other Such Station In the Way. Then He Would Get On Board

Any Boat Bound To The Ohio, Book Himself For Louisville, And Step On

Shore At Memphis. He Had No Luggage Of Any Kind Except A Green Cotton

Umbrella; But, In order To Lull All Suspicion, He Contrived always To

See The Captain Or The Clerk In his Office, And To Ask Them

Confidentially If They Knew The Man Sleeping In the Upper Bed, If He Was

Respectable, As He, The Preacher, Had In his Trunks Considerable Sums

Intrusted to Him By Some Societies. The Consequence Was, That, Believing

Him Rich, The Captain And Officers Would Pay Him A Great Deal Of

Attention, Inviting Him To Wine And Liquor. When He Disappeared, They

Would Express How Sorry They Were To Have Been Obliged to Leave The

Gentleman Behind, But They Hoped they Would See Him At St. Louis, New

Orleans, Or Louisville, Or Hear From Him, So As To Know Where To Direct

His Trunks. But They Would Soon Ascertain That There Were No Trunks Left

Behind, That There Had Never Been Any Brought On Board, And That They

Had Been Duped by A Clever Sharper.

 

 

 

In Less Than Twenty-Four Hours Almost All The Passengers Had Got On

Board Some Other Boats, But Those Who Had Been Invited by Mr. Courtenay

Tarried a Few Days With Us, For We Were On The Eve Of A Great Fishing

Party On The Lake, Which In the Far-West Is Certainly A Very Curious

Scene. Among The New Guests Were Several Cotton Planters From The South,

And English Cotton-Brokers. One Of Them Had Passed a Short Time Among

The Mormons, At Nauvoo, And Had Many Amusing Stories To Tell Of Them.

One I Select Among Many, Which Is The Failure Of An Intended miracle By

Joe Smith.

 

 

 

Towards The Close Of A Fine Summer'S Day, A Farmer Of Ioway Found A

Respectable-Looking Man At His Gate, Who Requested permission To Pass

The Night Under His Roof. The Hospitable Farmer Readily Complied; The

Stranger Was Invited into The House, And A Warm And Substantial Supper

Set Before Him.

 

 

 

After He Had Eaten, The Farmer, Who Appeared to Be A Jovial,

Warm-Hearted, Humorous, And Withal A Shrewd Old Man, Passed several

Hours In conversation With His Guest, Who Seemed to Be Very Ill At Ease,

Both In body And Mind; Yet, As If Desirous Of Pleasing His Entertainer,

He Replied courteously And Agreeably To Whatever Was Said To Him.

Finally, He Pleaded fatigue And Illness As An Excuse For Retiring To

Rest, And Was Conducted by The Farmer To An Upper Chamber Where He

Went To Bed.

 

 

 

About The Middle Of The Night, The Farmer And His Family Were Awakened

By Dreadful Groans, Which They Soon Ascertained proceeded from The

Chamber Of The Traveller. On Going To Ascertain The Cause, They Found

That The Stranger Was Dreadfully Ill, Suffering The Most Acute Pains

And Uttering The Most Doleful Cries Apparently Quite Unconscious Of What

Was Passing around Him. Everything That Kindness And Experience Could

Suggest Was Done To Relieve The Sick Man; But All Efforts Were In vain,

And, To The Consternation Of The Farmer And His Family, Their Guest, In

The Course Of A Few Hours, Expired.

 

 

 

At An Early Hour In the Morning, In the Midst Of Their Trouble And

Anxiety, Two Travellers Came To The Gate, And Requested entertainment.

The Farmer Told Them That He Would Willingly Offer Them Hospitality, But

That Just Now His Household Was In the Greatest Confusion, On Account Of

The Death Of A Stranger, The Particulars Of Which He Proceeded to Relate

To Them. They Appeared to Be Much Surprised and Grieved at The Poor

Man'S Calamity, And Politely Requested permission To See The Corpse.

This, Of Course, The Farmer Readily Granted, And Conducted them To The

Chamber In which Laid The Dead Body. They Looked at It For A Few Minutes

In Silence, And Then The Oldest Of The Pair Gravely Told The Farmer That

They Were Elders Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, And

Were Empowered by God To Perform Miracles, Even To The Extent Of Raising

The Dead; And That They Felt Quite Assured they Could Bring To Life The

Man Who Laid Dead Before Them!

 

 

 

The Farmer Was, Of Course, "Pretty Considerably," Astonished at The

Quality And Powers Of The Persons Who Addressed him, And, Rather

Incredulously Asked if They Were Quite Sure That They Could Perform All

Which They Professed.

 

 

 

"O Certainly! Not A Doubt Of It. The Lord Has Commissioned us Expressly

To Work Miracles, In order To Prove The Truth Of The Prophet Joseph

Smith, And The Inspiration Of The Books And Doctrines Revealed to Him.

Send For All Your Neighbours, That, In the Presence Of A Multitude, We

May Bring The Dead Man To Life, And That The Lord And His Church May Be

Glorified to All Men."

 

 

 

The Farmer, After A Little Consideration, Agreed to Let The

Miracle-Workers Proceed, And, As They Desired, Sent His Children To His

Neighbours, Who, Attracted by The Expectation Of A