The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2 - J Fenimore Cooper (books to improve english TXT) 📗
- Author: J Fenimore Cooper
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Of Foot.
As The Little Speck Of Blue Rose Against The Heavens, Like An Island
Issuing From The Deep, The Savages Occasionally Raised A Yell Of
Part 3 Chapter 21 Pg 33Triumph. But The Mists Of Evening Were Already Gathering Along The
Whole Of The Eastern Margin Of The Prairie, And Before The Band Had
Made Half Of The Necessary Distance, The Dim Outline Of The Rock Had
Melted Into The Haze Of The Back Ground. Indifferent To This
Circumstance, Which Rather Favoured Than Disconcerted His Plans,
Mahtoree, Who Had Again Ridden In Front, Held On His Course With The
Accuracy Of A Hound Of The Truest Scent, Merely Slackening His Speed A
Little, As The Horses Of His Party Were By This Time Thoroughly Blown.
It Was At This Stage Of The Enterprise, That The Old Man Rode Up To
The Side Of Middleton, And Addressed Him As Follows In English--
"Here Is Likely To Be A Thieving Business, And One In Which I Must Say
I Have But Little Wish To Be A Partner."
"What Would You Do? It Would Be Fatal To Trust Ourselves In The Hands
Of The Miscreants In Our Rear."
"Tut, For Miscreants, Be They Red Or Be They White. Look Ahead, Lad,
As If Ye Were Talking Of Our Medicines, Or Perhaps Praising The Teton
Beasts. For The Knaves Love To Hear Their Horses Commended, The Same
As A Foolish Mother In The Settlements Is Fond Of Hearing The Praises
Of Her Wilful Child. So; Pat The Animal And Lay Your Hand On The
Gewgaws, With Which The Red-Skins Have Ornamented His Mane, Giving
Your Eye As It Were To One Thing, And Your Mind To Another. Listen; If
Matters Are Managed With Judgment, We May Leave These Tetons As The
Night Sets In."
"A Blessed Thought!" Exclaimed Middleton, Who Retained A Painful
Remembrance Of The Look Of Admiration, With Which Mahtoree Had
Contemplated The Loveliness Of Inez, As Well As Of His Subsequent
Presumption In Daring To Wish To Take The Office Of Her Protector On
Himself.
"Lord, Lord! What A Weak Creatur' Is Man, When The Gifts Of Natur' Are
Smothered In Bookish Knowledge, And Womanly Manners! Such Another
Start Would Tell These Imps At Our Elbows That We Were Plotting
Against Them, Just As Plainly As If It Were Whispered In Their Ears By
A Sioux Tongue. Ay, Ay, I Know The Devils; They Look As Innocent As So
Many Frisky Fawns, But There Is Not One Among Them All That Has Not An
Eye On Our Smallest Motions. Therefore, What Is To Be Done Is To Be
Done In Wisdom, In Order To Circumvent Their Cunning. That Is Right;
Pat His Neck And Smile, As If You Praised The Horse, And Keep The Ear
On My Side Open To My Words. Be Careful Not To Worry Your Beast, For
Though But Little Skilled In Horses, Reason Teaches That Breath Is
Needful In A Hard Push, And That A Weary Leg Makes A Dull Race. Be
Ready To Mind The Signal, When You Hear A Whine From Old Hector. The
First Will Be To Make Ready; The Second, To Edge Out Of The Crowd; And
The Third, To Go--Am I Understood?"
"Perfectly, Perfectly," Said Middleton, Trembling In His Excessive
Eagerness To Put The Plan In Instant Execution, And Pressing The
Little Arm, Which Encircled His Body, To His Heart. "Perfectly.
Hasten, Hasten."
Part 3 Chapter 21 Pg 34
"Ay, The Beast Is No Sloth," Continued The Trapper In The Teton
Language, As If He Continued The Discourse, Edging Cautiously Through
The Dusky Throng At The Same Time, Until He Found Himself Riding At
The Side Of Paul. He Communicated His Intentions In The Same Guarded
Manner As Before. The High-Spirited And Fearless Bee-Hunter Received
The Intelligence With Delight, Declaring His Readiness To Engage The
Whole Of The Savage Band, Should It Become Necessary To Effect Their
Object. When The Old Man Drew Off From The Side Of This Pair Also, He
Cast His Eyes About Him To Discover The Situation Occupied By The
Naturalist.
The Doctor, With Infinite Labour To Himself And Asinus, Had Maintained
A Position In The Very Centre Of The Siouxes, So Long As There Existed
The Smallest Reason For Believing That Any Of The Missiles Of Ishmael
Might Arrive In Contact With His Person. After This Danger Had
Diminished, Or Rather Disappeared Entirely, His Own Courage Revived,
While That Of His Steed Began To Droop. To This Mutual But Very
Material Change Was Owing The Fact, That The Rider And The Ass Were
Now To Be Sought Among That Portion Of The Band Who Formed A Sort Of
Rear-Guard. Hither, Then, The Trapper Contrived To Turn His Steed,
Without Exciting The Suspicions Of Any Of His Subtle Companions.
"Friend," Commenced The Old Man, When He Found Himself In A Situation
Favourable To Discourse, "Should You Like To Pass A Dozen Years Among
The Savages With A Shaved Head, And A Painted Countenance, With,
Perhaps, A Couple Of Wives And Five Or Six Children Of The Half Breed,
To Call You Father?"
"Impossible!" Exclaimed The Startled Naturalist. "I Am Indisposed To
Matrimony In General, And More Especially To All Admixture Of The
Varieties Of Species, Which Only Tend To Tarnish The Beauty And To
Interrupt The Harmony Of Nature. Moreover, It Is A Painful Innovation
On The Order Of All Nomenclatures."
"Ay, Ay, You Have Reason Enough For Your Distaste To Such A Life; But
Should These Siouxes Get You Fairly Into Their Village, Such Would Be
Your Luck, As Certain As That The Sun Rises And Sets At The Pleasure
Of The Lord."
"Marry Me To A Woman Who Is Not Adorned With The Comeliness Of The
Species!" Responded The Doctor. "Of What Crime Have I Been Guilty,
That So Grievous A Punishment Should Await The Offence? To Marry A Man
Against The Movements Of His Will, Is To Do A Violence To Human
Nature!"
"Now, That You Speak Of Natur', I Have Hopes That The Gift Of Reason
Has Not Altogether Deserted Your Brain," Returned The Old Man, With A
Covert Expression Playing About The Angles Of His Deep Set Eyes, Which
Betrayed He Was Not Entirely Destitute Of Humour. "Nay, They May
Conceive You A Remarkable Subject For Their Kindness, And For That
Matter Marry You To Five Or Six. I Have Known, In My Days, Favoured
Chiefs Who Had Numberless Wives."
"But Why Should They Meditate This Vengeance?" Demanded The Doctor,
Part 3 Chapter 21 Pg 35Whose Hair Began To Rise, As If Each Fibre Was Possessed Of
Sensibility; "What Evil Have I Done?"
"It Is The Fashion Of Their Kindness. When They Come To Learn That You
Are A Great Medicine, They Will Adopt You In The Tribe, And Some
Mighty Chief Will Give You His Name, And Perhaps His Daughter, Or It
May Be A Wife Or Two Of His Own, Who Have Dwelt Long In His Lodge, And
Of Whose Value He Is A Judge By Experience."
"The Governor And Founder Of Natural Harmony Protect Me!" Ejaculated
The Doctor. "I Have No Affinity To A Single Consort, Much Less To
Duplicates And Triplicates Of The Class! I Shall Certainly Essay A
Flight From Their Abodes Before I Mingle In So Violent A Conjunction."
"There Is Reason In Your Words; But Why Not Attempt The Race You Speak
Of Now?"
The Naturalist Looked Fearfully Around, As If He Had An Inclination To
Make An Instant Exhibition Of His Desperate Intention; But The Dusky
Figures, Who Were Riding On Every Side Of Him, Seemed Suddenly Tripled
In Number, And The Darkness, That Was Already Thickening On The
Prairie, Appeared In His Eyes To Possess The Glare Of High Noon.
"It Would Be Premature, And Reason Forbids It," He Answered. "Leave
Me, Venerable Venator, To The Council Of My Own Thoughts, And When My
Plans Are Properly Classed, I Will Advise You Of My Resolutions."
"Resolutions!" Repeated The Old Man, Shaking His Head A Little
Contemptuously As He Gave The Rein To His Horse, And Allowed Him To
Mingle With The Steeds Of The Savages. "Resolution Is A Word That Is
Talked Of In The Settlements, And Felt On The Borders. Does My Brother
Know The Beast On Which The Pale-Face Rides?" He Continued, Addressing
A Gloomy Looking Warrior In His Own Tongue, And Making A Motion With
His Arm That At The Same Time Directed His Attention To The Naturalist
And The Meek Asinus.
The Teton Turned His Eyes For A Minute On The Animal, But Disdained To
Manifest The Smallest Portion Of That Wonder He Had Felt, In Common
With All His Companions, On First Viewing So Rare A Quadruped. The
Trapper Was Not Ignorant, That While Asses And Mules Were Beginning To
Be Known To Those Tribes Who Dwelt Nearest The Mexicos, They Were Not
Usually Encountered So Far North As The Waters Of La Platte. He
Therefore Managed To Read The Mute Astonishment, That Lay So Deeply
Concealed In The Tawny Visage Of The Savage, And Took His Measures
Accordingly.
"Does My Brother Think That The Rider Is A Warrior Of The Pale-Faces?"
He Demanded, When He Believed That Sufficient Time Had Elapsed, For A
Full Examination Of The Pacific Mien Of The Naturalist.
The Flash Of Scorn, Which Shot Across The Features Of The Teton, Was
Visible, Even By The Dim Light Of The Stars.
"Is A Dahcotah A Fool?" Was The Answer.
Part 3 Chapter 21 Pg 36"They Are A Wise Nation, Whose Eyes Are Never Shut; Much Do I Wonder,
That They Have Not Seen The Great Medicine Of The Big-Knives!"
"Wagh!" Exclaimed His Companion, Suffering The Whole Of His Amazement
To Burst Out Of His Dark Rigid Countenance At The Surprise, Like A
Flash Of Lightning Illuminating The
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