The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2 - J Fenimore Cooper (books to improve english TXT) 📗
- Author: J Fenimore Cooper
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His Advice. The Trapper Then Turned Away From His Rough But Warm-
Hearted Companion; And, Having Called Hector From The Boat, He Seemed
Anxious Still To Utter A Few Words More.
"Captain," He At Length Resumed, "I Know When A Poor Man Talks Of
Credit, He Deals In A Delicate Word, According To The Fashions Of The
World; And When An Old Man Talks Of Life, He Speaks Of That Which He
May Never See; Nevertheless There Is One Thing I Will Say, And That Is
Not So Much On My Own Behalf As On That Of Another Person. Here Is
Hector, A Good And Faithful Pup, That Has Long Outlived The Time Of A
Dog; And, Like His Master, He Looks More To Comfort Now, Than To Any
Deeds In Running. But The Creatur' Has His Feelings As Well As A
Christian. He Has Consorted Latterly With His Kinsman, There, In Such
A Sort As To Find Great Pleasure In His Company, And I Will
Acknowledge That It Touches My Feelings To Part The Pair So Soon. If
You Will Set A Value On Your Hound, I Will Endeavour To Send It To You
In The Spring, More Especially Should Them Same Traps Come Safe To
Hand; Or, If You Dislike Parting With The Animal Altogether, I Will
Just Ask You For His Loan Through The Winter. I Think I Can See My Pup
Will Not Last Beyond That Time, For I Have Judgment In These Matters,
Since Many Is The Friend, Both Hound And Red-Skin, That I Have Seen
Depart In My Day, Though The Lord Hath Not Yet Seen Fit To Order His
Angels To Sound Forth My Name."
Part 3 Chapter 33 Pg 167
"Take Him, Take Him," Cried Middleton; "Take All, Or Any Thing!"
The Old Man Whistled The Younger Dog To The Land; And Then He
Proceeded To The Final Adieus. Little Was Said On Either Side. The
Trapper Took Each Person Solemnly By The Hand, And Uttered Something
Friendly And Kind To All. Middleton Was Perfectly Speechless, And Was
Driven To Affect Busying Himself Among The Baggage. Paul Whistled With
All His Might, And Even Obed Took His Leave With An Effort That Bore
The Appearance Of Desperate Philosophical Resolution. When He Had Made
The Circuit Of The Whole, The Old Man, With His Own Hands, Shoved The
Boat Into The Current, Wishing God To Speed Them. Not A Word Was
Spoken, Nor A Stroke Of The Oar Given, Until The Travellers Bad
Floated Past A Knoll That Hid The Trapper From Their View. He Was Last
Seen Standing On The Low Point, Leaning On His Rifle, With Hector
Crouched At His Feet, And The Younger Dog Frisking Along The Sands, In
The Playfulness Of Youth And Vigour.
Part 3 Chapter 34 Pg 168
--Methought, I Heard A Voice.
--Shakspeare.
The Water-Courses Were At Their Height, And The Boat Went Down The
Swift Current Like A Bird. The Passage Proved Prosperous And Speedy.
In Less Than A Third Of The Time, That Would Have Been Necessary For
The Same Journey By Land, It Was Accomplished By The Favour Of Those
Rapid Rivers. Issuing From One Stream Into Another, As The Veins Of
The Human Body Communicate With The Larger Channels Of Life, They Soon
Entered The Grand Artery Of The Western Waters, And Landed Safely At
The Very Door Of The Father Of Inez.
The Joy Of Don Augustin, And The Embarrassment Of The Worthy Father
Ignatius, May Be Imagined. The Former Wept And Returned Thanks To
Heaven; The Latter Returned Thanks, And Did Not Weep. The Mild
Provincials Were Too Happy To Raise Any Questions On The Character Of
So Joyful A Restoration; And, By A Sort Of General Consent, It Soon
Came To Be An Admitted Opinion That The Bride Of Middleton Had Been
Kidnapped By A Villain, And That She Was Restored To Her Friends By
Human Agency. There Were, As Respects This Belief, Certainly A Few
Sceptics, But Then They Enjoyed Their Doubts In Private, With That
Species Of Sublimated And Solitary Gratification That A Miser Finds In
Gazing At His Growing, But Useless, Hoards.
In Order To Give The Worthy Priest Something To Employ His Mind,
Middleton Made Him The Instrument Of Uniting Paul And Ellen. The
Former Consented To The Ceremony, Because He Found That All His
Friends Laid Great Stress On The Matter; But Shortly After He Led His
Bride Into The Plains Of Kentucky, Under The Pretence Of Paying
Part 3 Chapter 34 Pg 169Certain Customary Visits To Sundry Members Of The Family Of Hover.
While There, He Took Occasion To Have The Marriage Properly
Solemnised, By A Justice Of The Peace Of His Acquaintance, In Whose
Ability To Forge The Nuptial Chain He Had Much More Faith Than In That
Of All The Gownsmen Within The Pale Of Rome. Ellen, Who Appeared
Conscious That Some Extraordinary Preventives Might Prove Necessary To
Keep One Of So Erratic A Temper As Her Partner, Within The Proper
Matrimonial Boundaries, Raised No Objections To These Double Knots,
And All Parties Were Content.
The Local Importance Middleton Had Acquired, By His Union With The
Daughter Of So Affluent A Proprietor As Don Augustin, United To His
Personal Merit, Attracted The Attention Of The Government. He Was Soon
Employed In Various Situations Of Responsibility And Confidence, Which
Both Served To Elevate His Character In The Public Estimation, And To
Afford The Means Of Patronage. The Bee-Hunter Was Among The First Of
Those To Whom He Saw Fit To Extend His Favour. It Was Far From
Difficult To Find Situations Suited To The Abilities Of Paul, In The
State Of Society That Existed Three-And-Twenty Years Ago In Those
Regions. The Efforts Of Middleton And Inez, In Behalf Of Her Husband,
Were Warmly And Sagaciously Seconded By Ellen, And They Succeeded, In
Process Of Time, In Working A Great And Beneficial Change In His
Character. He Soon Became A Land-Holder, Then A Prosperous Cultivator
Of The Soil, And Shortly After A Town-Officer. By That Progressive
Change In Fortune, Which In The Republic Is Often Seen To Be So
Singularly Accompanied By A Corresponding Improvement In Knowledge And
Self-Respect, He Went On, From Step To Step, Until His Wife Enjoyed
The Maternal Delight Of Seeing Her Children Placed Far Beyond The
Danger Of Returning To That State From Which Both Their Parents Had
Issued. Paul Is Actually At This Moment A Member Of The Lower Branch
Of The Legislature Of The State Where He Has Long Resided; And He Is
Even Notorious For Making Speeches That Have A Tendency To Put That
Deliberative Body In Good Humour, And Which, As They Are Based On
Great Practical Knowledge Suited To The Condition Of The Country,
Possess A Merit That Is Much Wanted In Many More Subtle And Fine-Spun
Theories, That Are Daily Heard In Similar Assemblies, To Issue From
The Lips Of Certain Instinctive Politicians. But All These Happy
Fruits Were The Results Of Much Care, And Of A Long Period Of Time.
Middleton, Who Fills, With A Credit Better Suited To The Difference In
Their Educations, A Seat In A Far Higher Branch Of Legislative
Authority, Is The Source From Which We Have Derived Most Of The
Intelligence Necessary To Compose Our Legend. In Addition To What He
Has Related Of Paul, And Of His Own Continued Happiness, He Has Added
A Short Narrative Of What Took Place In A Subsequent Visit To The
Prairies, With Which, As We Conceive It A Suitable Termination To What
Has Gone Before, We Shall Judge It Wise To Conclude Our Labours.
In The Autumn Of The Year, That Succeeded The Season, In Which The
Preceding Events Occurred, The Young Man, Still In The Military
Service, Found Himself On The Waters Of The Missouri, At A Point Not
Far Remote From The Pawnee Towns. Released From Any Immediate Calls Of
Duty, And Strongly Urged To The Measure By Paul, Who Was In His
Company, He Determined To Take Horse, And Cross The Country To Visit
The Partisan, And To Enquire Into The Fate Of His Friend The Trapper.
Part 3 Chapter 34 Pg 170As His Train Was Suited To His Functions And Rank, The Journey Was
Effected, With The Privations And Hardships That Are The
Accompaniments Of All Travelling In A Wild, But Without Any Of Those
Dangers And Alarms That Marked His Former Passage Through The Same
Regions. When Within A Proper Distance, He Despatched An Indian
Runner, Belonging To A Friendly Tribe, To Announce The Approach Of
Himself And Party, Continuing His Route At A Deliberate Pace, In Order
That The Intelligence Might, As Was Customary, Precede His Arrival. To
The Surprise Of The Travellers Their Message Was Unanswered. Hour
Succeeded Hour, And Mile After Mile Was Passed, Without Bringing
Either The Signs Of An Honourable Reception, Or The More Simple
Assurances Of A Friendly Welcome. At Length The Cavalcade, At Whose
Head Rode Middleton And Paul, Descended From The Elevated Plain, On
Which They Had Long Been Journeying, To A Luxuriant Bottom, That
Brought Them To The Level Of The Village Of The Loups. The Sun Was
Beginning To Fall, And A Sheet Of Golden Light Was Spread Over The
Placid Plain, Lending To Its Even Surface Those Glorious Tints And
Hues, That, The Human Imagination Is Apt To Conceive, Forms The
Embellishment Of Still More Imposing Scenes. The Verdure Of The Year
Yet Remained, And Herds Of Horses And Mules Were Grazing Peacefully In
The Vast Natural Pasture, Under The Keeping Of Vigilant Pawnee Boys.
Paul Pointed Out Among Them, The Well-Known Form Of Asinus, Sleek,
Fat, And Luxuriating In The Fulness Of Content, As He Stood With
Reclining Ears And Closed Eye-Lids, Seemingly Musing On The Exquisite
Nature
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