University of Virginia Library

4. CHAPTER IV.

“Let me see your leg, Joe,” said Sneak, as he and Joe rode out
of the gate of the enclosure, early the next morning, in the rear of
Glenn and William.

“There,” said Joe, rolling up his pantaloons, “look at that!”
The marks of the dog's teeth were plainly visible.

“If it was a dream, Joe,” said Sneak, “your own Pete must have
bit you in your sleep.”

“That's nonsense!” said Joe. “It was no dream. But where
are we going?”

“We're going to ride all round the valley in the outer edge of
the timber, where we can shoot without breaking the law.”

“I'm glad of that, Sneak, for I want to kill something in revenge
for this hurt on my leg. Yonder's a buck's tail, now!”

“Don't shoot—or you'll lose your gun,” exclaimed Sneak, as
Joe threw his musket up to his shoulder, and seemed to be taking
aim at the deer as it leaped leisurely through the long grass.

“I was tempted,” said Joe;” and I pulled the trigger, but it
wasn't cocked. If it had been cocked, that doe would have fallen,
and I would have been the first law-breaker. I hope you fixed my
lock for me, Sneak, as you are our gun-mender.”

“Yes, I made it easier. If it had been cocked, you'd 'ave found
it out. But why don't you take one of the rifles, and throw that
old cannon away? It makes twice as much noise as any other
gun, and don't do half as much execution.”

“It makes a good report, Sneak, and I like it for that, because
everybody knows who's shooting; but the other observation of yours
about it's not doing half execution, is simply a lie.”

“What?”

“A lie, but not a fighting lie, you know—for we're both in too
good humor to quarrel. But to prove it's a lie, you have only to remember
the execution it's done in former days and nights, among
the Indians, the wolves—yes, and your puppies.”

“Dod rot it, Joe, don't make any allusion to 'em, or we'll fight,
sartin. Else I'll kill your Pete.”

“You may kill the phantom Pete, as Mr. Glenn calls him, and
welcome. But I love my old musket, Sneak, and won't give it up.
I love it for its many reminiscences, as Mr. Roughgrove calls
'em.”

“What's that?”

“Oh, only the slaughter it has made—and some good-natured
kicks it gave us. You havn't forgot how it knocked me over one
night when you peeped over my shoulder, and the back of my head
broke your tooth?”

“Is that it?” said Sneak, indignantly, lifting his hand to his
mouth and exposing the fractured tooth. “Dod rot the old good
for nothing gun! No, I hav'nt forgotten it, and never shall, as
long as the old consarn's in my sight. I'll smash it some of these
days. Don't talk to me about those remniscences.”

“If you do, Sheak, of course you'll be prepared for war. We'll
fight, then; and I'll not stop as long as you have a tooth in your
head.”

They maintained a distance of some twenty or thirty paces in the
rear of Glenn and William, who determined to ride the entire circuit
of the island within the limits of its boundary of running
waters. On the level side of the laughing stream, they met with
a great variety of luscious fruits, and among the rest were astonished
to find, occasionally, apple and pear trees in full bearing. It
was conjectured that the seeds must have been dropped by pigeons
or other birds of passage. The grapes were in the most surprising
abundance, and of excellent flavor. Wild raspberry bushes, still
in bearing, blackberry, gooseberry, and whortleberry bushes, were
scattered in promiscuous profusion round the entire circuit of the
island.

With the exception of a few places, there were no means of

egress on the opposite side of the stream, and these were only afforded
by exceedingly narrow and precipitous ascents, through half
concealed fissures in the otherwise nearly uniform embankment of
rocks, which rose never less than twenty, and often as high as fifty
feet above the water. At the lower end of the delta, where the
water dashed through a cañon, there could be no possible ingress
for man or beast, for the stream leaped down an almost perpendicular
descent, which only the most active of fishes could ascend.
Through this avenue, however, the party, as they paused to contemplate
its grandeur, could distinguish a vast number of water fowl in
the little lake beyond. Among these were swans, geese, brant, and
several varieties of ducks; while upon the margin, stalked the long
legged crane, and ran the plover, as well as the smaller snipe.
These had evidently enjoyed a long exemption from the murderous-aim
of man, as none of them seemed alarmed at the proximity of
the party, now within thirty yards of them. On the contrary, they
looked at the strangers with great curiosity, and some approached
them for a closer inspection.

“Don't fire,” said Glenn, seeing Joe aiming his musket in that
direction.

“I don't mean to, sir,” said Joe, lowering his gun; “I was only
seeing how many I could kill if I was to shoot. I've got buck shot
in, sir; but if I had duck shot, I think I could knock over a dozen
of 'em every time. But, sir, is it agoing to be against the law to
kill 'em in the pond?”

“From this side, Joe,” said Glenn. “The object is to keep the
game in the island as gentle as possible.”

“And I don't see what good that is going to do,” said Joe, in an
undertone to Sneak. “The niggers have the hardest time of it,
though; for they have been compelled to make those high fences
round the field, just to keep out the gentle game.”

“And the hosses and the bull, Joe,” said Sneak;” that Tom, the
black bull, can walk through any common fence.”

“Yes, and he can whip any wild animal they can fetch against
him.”

“But the fences won't keep out the coons,” said Sneak, “and I
shall have sport catching 'em. I see signs of 'em everywhere.”

Glenn and William then, with some difficulty, crossed the stream
at one of the very few places on the north side which admitted
egress from the valley. The ascent was steep, and before the party
had proceeded far up the hill, Joe slipped off his horse behind.

“Stop,” cried he. “Catch Dick! Plague take the horse.”

“Dick's higher than your little pony,” said Sneak, seizing the
reins; “and if you hadn't fell on your feet, it mought've been a
mighty hard tumble. But don't blame the hoss; it was the hill,
and it's as much as I kin do to keep on my hoss' back, and I'm a
good rider.”

“Good rider!” said Joe, mounting again. “Say good walker—
for your long legs can touch the ground. I'm as good a rider as
you.”

“Hold up your gun!” cried Sneak, in alarm. “Dod rot it, don't
you see it's cocked?”

“No, I didn't see it, Sneak,” said Joe. “It must have been
done by the bushes—and it was pointing right at you. I wouldn't
kill you for the world, Sneak,” he added, uncocking his musket.

“And I wouldn't be killed for a dozen worlds, Joe, even by accident.
But spur up; they're getting too far ahead, and the ground's
leveller here.”

There was heavy timber on the hill sides next the valley, but the
growth became smaller as they receded from the water; thus, when
they had reached the summit, they were even with the tops of the
highest trees, and surrounded by stunted oaks and bushes. Beyond,
and as far as the eye could reach, there was a succession of hills
or steppes, mostly barren of vegetation. But when they drew near
the head of the valley, they entered the grand forest of noble trees
which extended, apparently, all the way to the mountain.

As they entered this forest, Glenn and William, who waited till
Sneak and Joe came up, announced that the restriction was removed
from the use of their guns, and that a prize should be awarded the
one who achieved the first success.

“But I'm afraid of getting lost,” said Joe, “if we scatter off by
ourselves.”

“That's impossible,” said William. “The forest is not exceeding

a half mile in breadth, and you have only to turn to the right or
left, and you emerge into the prairie. Then, following the timber, it
will certainly lead you into the valley.”

“But suppose I take the wrong end of it,” said Joe, “won't it
lead me to the mountain?”

“If you don't know a mountain forty miles off, from a green valley
in sight of you,” said Sneak.

Then the hunters dispersed in different directions, Joe spurring
his horse through a patch of spice bushes. But before the rest of
the party had separated far, Joe's gun was heard. It was known
to be his gun, because the report was different from any other ever
heard before. It was like the blasting of rocks. The next moment
his horse came dashing over the bushes, his ears thrust back, his
nostrils distended, and his eyes flashing fire. He snorted, he pawed
the earth. He was riderless; and this attracting the attention of
the other hunters who had instinctively turned and looked in that
direction upon being startled by the astounding report, they rode back
briskly to look for Joe. They found him lying on his back, and his
musket balanced horizontally on the bushes, some twenty feet distant.

“What's the matter, Joe?” asked Glenn, dismounting.

“His dodrotted gun's kilt him agin,” said Sneak.

“He moves,” said William.

“I was stunned a little,” said Joe, rising slowly into a sitting attitude.

“A little!” said Glenn.

“Where's my horse?” asked Joe, looking round somewhat wildly.

“Here he is,” said Sneak. “I led him back, poor fellow!”

“Led him back? How did he get away? Where's my gun?”

“See thar!” said Sneak, pointing to it.

“How came it there?” asked Joe. “Oh, I remember! Mr.
Glenn,” he continued, now rising to his feet, “may I whip Sneak?”

“Whip Sneak?”

“Don't let him do it, Mr. Glenn,” said Sneak; “and I know he
could do it now, for I'm as weak as a baby. I shall never be strong

agin, till I can find a clean place to lay down and laugh in, a whole
hour by myself.”

“The peace must be maintained, Joe,” said Glenn; “nevertheless
there must be an end of such practical jokes as these—and you
can bring the matter before us to-night.”

“Sneak,” said Joe, “didn't you promise to draw the load out of
my gun, when you mended the lock yesterday?”

“I did promise—but I couldn't perform it, the screw wouldn't
take holt of the piece of old hat you had rammed down.”

“Why didn't you say so, you rascal? I thought the gun was
empty, and loaded it again.”

“That's the explanation,” said Glenn—“and indeed the gun explained
itself by its tremendous report.”

“And it ain't busted,” said Sneak, examining the musket which
he had taken down from the bushes. “Throw the dod rotted thing
away, Joe,” said he, as he placed it in the hands of the owner.

“I shall do no such thing,” said Joe. “Mr. Boone used to say
it was a safe gun, because it had been so often tested by overloading
and by double loading. I'm not afraid of its bursting, and I'll
stick to it, because its a safe gun.”

“If you consider it a safe gun,” said William, smiling, “no one
else has any right to object to it.”

“Yes, I have,” said Sneak; “look here!” and he exposed his
fractured tooth, with whose history all were familiar. And Joe himself
laughed at the remembrance.

“But what did you shoot at?” asked Sneak. “We all know who
suffered most.”

“Do you?” said Joe, re-charging his gun very composedly. “Mr.
Boone used to say, no matter what was hit or missed, every hunter,
after firing, ought to load his gun again, before moving from his
tracks. Now I'll show you what I fired at,” he continued, when he
had finished, leading the way among some wild-rose bushes a few
paces to the left. “And I shall claim the premium; there it is—
dead enough.”

“What is it?” asked they, following close.

“An old he wolf,” said Sneak, bestriding the animal, which was
found to be completely riddled by the double load of buckshot.

“I claim the prize,” said Joe.

“You can't,” said Sneak, “its not game. An old gray he-wolf,
too poor and weak to git out of the way—and maybe it had laid
down to die with old age—and who knows it wasn't dead before he
shot it—”

“Stop, Sneak,” said Glenn. “It is you, now, who are disposed
to quarrel with Joe. There is fresh blood, and abundance of it, to
prove the wolf was living. I know it is hard for a great hunter
like yourself, to be second to any one; but the prize is Joe's this
time; there was no exception of wolves—and indeed the killing of a
wolf is entitled to a premium in the States as well as in the wilderness.”

“I won't dispute it, sir,” said Sneak; “but rot me if I'd shot
such a mean and contemptible old decripid varmint as that. Even
the skin ain't good for nuthin'.”

“Because I riddled it,” said Joe, now in high spirits, and remounting
his appeased horse. “It was a great shot, Sneak! I'll
tell you all about it some other time. It was running when I pulled
the trigger—and I took deliberate aim, because I did'nt dream
of the two loads, and never thought of being kicked.”

Amicable terms being restored between Sneak and Joe, Glenn
and William left them to pursue their vagaries as they pleased, and
rode out towards the prairie. The wind came from the west, and
hence the smoke of Joe's gun was wafted to the valley instead of
the mountain. The game, therefore, whose curiosity as much as
their fear is always excited by novel sounds, had not been thrown
into consternation. On the contrary, Glenn and William, as they
had anticipated, beheld various animals converging towards the
scene of Joe's achievement, or disaster, as if to ascertain the cause
of the startling uproar in the woods.

Selecting the finest bucks, Glenn and William each killed one,
and then desisted from the destruction. But while they were dressing
the fat venison, and hanging the bodies above the reach of
prowling wolves or panthers, they were startled again by the report

of Joe's musket on the other side of the woods. This time the explosion
was not so astounding; but it was shocking enough. And
it was followed soon after by the sharp crack of Sneak's rifle, in
the same vicinity.

“Joe missed the mark that time,” said William.

“And Sneak hit it,” said Glenn.

“Yes,” said William, “Sneak don't often miss.”

“There goes Joe again!” said Glenn, as another booming sound
reverberated on the ear. “What can it mean? Perhaps they've
treed a flock of turkeys. But I told them not to fire at birds.”

“And there's Sneak's rifle again,” said William. He wouldn't
shoot a turkey, and it is not often that he fires a second time at the
same object.”

William and Glenn secured their bucks, which was effected by
bending down two elastic saplings, and tying the animals to the
stoutest boughs. When the trees were released they lifted the
bucks up some ten feet from the earth. By the time this was accomplished,
Joe and Sneak were firing alternately in quick succession.

“Let us hasten over there,” said Glenn, and see what all this
bombarding means.”

“Very well,” said William; “for I can't understand it. It cannot
be the Indians, however; for, although they might not have
other weapons than bows and arrows, still they never go into battle
without the war whoop. And, besides, we should not have been
wholly neglected by them.”

They rode off in the direction of the firing, and were not a moment
too soon. First, they came across the horses of Joe and Sneak
browsing on a little grass plot, very composedly. A little beyond,
they found a dead doe, pretty completely riddled with buckshot, in
irrefragable testimony of another triumph of Joe. But, beyond
this, they found a buck, which Sneak's rifle ball had penetrated in
the fatal spot behind the shoulder. Both had their throats cut, and
Joe's knife lay beside his victim, showing very plainly that he had
been interrupted in the process of dressing the meat.

The firing was still kept up, several hundred paces distant from
this place.

“It's a grizzly bear,” said William; “I heard him scream at the
last crack of Sneak's rifle, and he must be wounded; but twenty
rounds won't kill him. “Let us be careful! They are the most
desperate and dangerous animals in the woods. I hope Joe and
Sneak have escaped unhurt.”

“On! on!” said Glenn, “or we may be too late! They are not
mounted and cannot escape! And they have ceased firing, now.”

This was true. But if the reports of guns did no longer resound
in the woods, the voice of Joe was very distinctly heard calling for
help.

“Yonder they are,” said William, galloping forward to the rescue.

Sneak and Joe were posted on the apex of an Indian mound in
the edge of the woods, and were assailed by two enormous grizzly
bears, that ran round them, and ever and anon endeavored to leap
up the steep ascent. They were both wounded, and evidently weak
from loss of blood. When this awful spectacle burst in view of
Glenn and William, both Sneak and Joe were fighting desperately
with long heavy clubs they had torn from the tree that stood on the
summit of the mound. It seemed that their guns were either out
of order, or that they did not now have time to load them.

“Oh, Mr. Glenn—oh, Mr. William Roughgrove, save us!” cried
Joe.

“Shet your mouth!” said Sneak, “and save your wind for the
bars!” And as he said this, he sent the foremost one, who charged
up the hill, down again with a tremendous blow on the snout.

“Take that,” said Joe, aiming his long club at the other, which
took effect on his head and stunned him. “Shoot, Mr. Glenn!”
continued Joe, “or they'll kill us both to a certainty.”

Thus repulsed, the furious animals rested in a small depression at
the base of the mound, so thickly overgrown with brambles, that
neither Glenn nor William could see them.

“They'll come up again in a minute,” said Joe, “they're only

getting their breath. I see 'em. Their red glaring eye-balls are
upon us! We're doomed, if you don't save us.”

“Dod rot it, keep your mouth shet,” said Sneak. “Be still, I
say, or I'll pitch you down on 'em. Just give me time to fix another
flint.”

“Joe,” said Glenn,” if you see them, why don't you shoot?”

“I can't,” cried Joe. “I rammed down the bullets first, and the
powder on top of 'em. The gun won't go off.”

“Why don't you fire again, Sneak?” asked William.

“I lost my flint,” said Sneak, “trying to help Joe fix his dod rotted
musket. The briars pulled it out. I've got another, but it's too
big—I'm trying to fit it though—if Joe'll only keep his mouth shet,
and not aggravate the tarnal bars.”

“Oh, Lord!” cried Joe. “Here they come again. Don't shoot
for Heaven's sake; you'll hit us,” cried he, seeing William and
Glenn lift their guns to their shoulders.

“Perhaps we had better reserve our fire,” said Glenn, taking
down his rifle. There is danger of aiming too high.” William
thought so too.

“Whar's my sticker?” cried Sneak, dropping his gun and resuming
his club. “Now, Joe, let's hit the tarnation monsters on
the teeth.” The attack this time was more feeble than the last, and
the assailants were easily repulsed under the redoubtable blows of
the men fighting for their lives.

“Let us finish them now,” said Glenn.

“Yes, before they have time to recover,” said William. They
spurred forward until they were within a few feet of the ditch. The
wounded and bleeding animals glared at them, and were evidently
meditating an attack, when the well-directed balls of the skillful
marksmen gave them the coup de grace. Both the huge animals
now lay in the agony of death; and a few moments after, Sneak
was bestride them, exhibiting their formidable claws.

“I'm the conqueror!” cried Joe, dancing round. “Mr. Boone
told me once that when any one killed a grizzly bear, he was made
a head chief, and he always wore the bear's claws. Huzza for my
musket!”

“You'se a dod rotted fool,” said Sneak. “They minded your

buckshot jest about as much as hogs minds the acorns that fall on
their backs.”

“I know better, I know better,” said Joe, in great glee, as he
pointed out the immense number of holes in the sides of the animals,
from which the blood was oozing. Acorns don't make the
blood run. You shot only five or six times, and here's at least forty
holes. I did the business; I killed 'em both.”

“You've spoilt both their hides,” said Sneak—and that's all.”

“Don't quarrel, or William and I will claim to have killed them
both,” said Glenn.

This being spoken with some severity, and decision of manner,
put a temporary end to the dispute.

“What shall be done next?” asked William, looking at the prostrate
animals, with interest. “It is still early.”

I'm jest in tune now,” said Sneak. “Not a bit worried. I'm
keen as a razor to go on. Let Joe go back, if he's tired or afeard
of anything.”

“Me?” said Joe, who had succeeded in extracting the wads from
his gun, and in charging it with the powder in the right place.
“Me tired? I hav'nt got my blood half up, yet. I feel like a
wood's colt. I'm greedy for more triumphs over Sneak. I can out
run him, throw him down, and beat him shooting.”

“Why don't you say braggin, and hollerin when there's danger,”
retorted Sneak.

“Then we will go on,” said Glenn; and ascending the mound he
sounded three loud blasts of his horn, which was the signal for Cæ
sar, Pompey and Hannibal to bring up the wagon and convey the
game to the house. The signal was understood, and was answered
by three blasts from the field where the negroes were at work.

The party then lost no time in dressing the huge animals, and as
their skins were stripped off, it was more apparent than ever, that
Joe's musket had done a large share of the work of destruction.
Sneak said the buckshot only destroyed the hides, but William informed
him that he had learned a remedy for such small rents, when
he dwelt among the Indians.

Then Joe and Sneak narrated the manner of their encounter

with the bears. It was when they were cutting the throats of the
deer that the first grizzly had made his appearance. He was not
the first to begin the battle, however, but merely circled round the
deer at a respectful distance, and would have gone off, if Joe had
let him alone. But Joe. not wishing to let him alone, and quite ignorant
of the danger, blazed away in spite of the remonstrances of
Sneak. This precipitated matters; for the bear, although knocked
down by the heavy discharge, soon recovered his feet; and, as is
his invariable custom, charged upon his assailant. Of course Joe
ran away, for his gun was not yet recharged; and he ran directly
towards Sneak; this brought the bear to a pause; but soon his comrade
joining him, the charge was continued. Sneak, who had been
more expert than Joe, fired not without effect at the second bear,
and this produced another hesitation on the part of the animals.
But before waiting to see what their ultimate decision might be,
both Joe and Sneak ran, with all their might, for the mound. There
the combat was continued, until both guns were disabled, when
clubs were substituted in the hand to hand engagement that ensued,
which terminated as we have seen, in the victory of the men
over the wild beasts of the forest.

The wagon came up by the time the animals were dressed, and
the negroes who had learned something of wood-craft during the
long journey from the east, were informed where all the deer might
be found. They were directed to take them home, and to return
for another load, if the signal should be given, as it was determined
to make a day's hunt of it.

Glenn and William continued to advance on the right side of the
woods, skirting the prairie, while Joe and Sneak kept on the left.

“I see chalcedony and other pretty stones in the chasms,” said
Glenn, as they rode along the edge of the forest, and occasionally
leaped their horses over the gullies worn in the soil by the rains,
now dry, and leading towards the centre of the woods, through
which the mountain stream perpetually flowed.

“Oh yes,” said William, smiling; “there are many precious
stones in the wilderness, and the Indians know the value the white
men place upon them.”

“Then I marvel they do not make them an article of trade,”
said Glenn.

“It is not marvelous,” said William.” They do not wish the
whites to be hunting pebbles in their country. Some of the tribes
make the penalty death, if any one sells a stone. The kings or
chiefs take possession of all that are found. La-u-na, and a few of
the special favorites, were permitted to keep some and to wear
them. They likewise know where gold may be found; but it is
death to reveal the secret. They have the sagacity to prefer the
forests and hunting grounds to the neighborhood of civilization—for
such neighborhood never fails to demoralize them. The coins of the
white man, and the spirituous liquors, produce, invariably, degeneracy
and degradation. But even in degradation and dependency;
not many of the tribes have revealed the localities of their gold
mines; and now they are lost, in the east, for many of the nations
are extinct. These things I learned from the old men when I lived
among them.”

“But I have seen too many evidences of the presence of gold in
this vicinity, for the treasure long to escape the cupidity of the
white man,” said Glenn.

“Then, alas for the poor Indian,” said William. “There,” he
continued, as his horse leaped over the dry sand of an exhausted
rivulet.

“What did you discover there?” asked Glenn, who reined in his
horse simultaneously with William. They turned and rode back,
for they had been going at a brisk pace. William dismounted and
beckoned Glenn to do the same.

“Look at that,” said William, pointing to the print of a man's
foot in the sand.

“Of course we must suppose the Indians frequent these fine
hunting grounds,” said Glenn.

“It is not the foot-print of an Indian,” said William. “This is
another thing I learned among the Indians. He wore a moccasin,
as all do in the wild woods, but the toes are out, and the heel made
too deep an indentation for an Indian.”

“Such knowledge as this may be useful,” said Glenn.

“Of course,” said William; and if the Indian is incapable of

comprehending the utility of the infinite variety of studies in the
acquirement of an education in civilized communities, depend upon
it, there are thousands of useful things learned in the wild-woods, of
which civilized man has no knowledge. Now, he continued, stooping
down and examining the ground, “I know not only that this
person was a white man, but that he was an old man.”

“An old man!” said Glenn. “How can you tell that?” “From
his short, unsteady step,” replied William, “and the employment of
a cane. There is the mark of his stick; and all these tracks indicate
that he was not lame. I could, if it were necessary, track him
for miles, even through the grass.”

“An old white man!” repeated Glenn. “Perhaps a solitary wanderer,
escaped from the Indians, who may have captured him.”

“It is possible,” said William; “for a great many white men,
supposed to be lost or dead, are either captured, or voluntarily take
up their abode among the Indians. But it is not often, surely, that
old men wander thus far from the precincts of civilization.”

“It may be,” continued Glenn, “that this man was the master of
the little dog seen by our wives, and also by Joe and Sneak.”

“It must have been so,” said William. “Here is the foot print
of a small dog,” he continued, still following the track.

“That accounts for Joe's apparition,” said Glenn. “The old
man is probably dead, or the dog has lost his master. Can you tell
how long it has been since the track was made.”

“No—not exactly. Only I can perceive it was made since the
last rain. When that was, none of us have any knowledge.”

“It is a mystery,” said Glenn, pondering, “which perhaps no one
may solve.”

Soon after, they remounted and pursued their way towards a high
mound, which had attracted their attention. Many deer were seen
by them; but they resolved to reserve their fire until after they had
taken the extensive view of the country which the mound promised
to afford them. Arrived at its summit they beheld on the right,
and embracing all the region from east to west, as far as the eye
could reach, a hilly prairie country, and in many places arid and
barren wastes. But in the depressions between the hills—which
were thrown in succession like vast billows on the ocean—where

there was some degree of moisture, a luxuriant growth of vegetation
was observable. In these green places, numbers of buffalo,
elk, and deer were seen.

“If Joe were with us, now,” said Glenn, “he would hold up both
hands and open his mouth.”

“His eyes?” asked William.

“No—his mouth. He always opens his mouth in astonishment.
His eyes are always open, when not sleeping. And now I have ascertained
one thing,” continued Glenn, “There are winters in this
climate and in this proximity to the mountain. Here is a fading
mullen.”

“Oh yes, there will be winter,” said William. “There are thousands
of proof. No doubt it will be very cold in exposed places,
and there may be deep snows. But we shall not suffer in the valley.
It is not only sheltered from the wind, but it has the best
Southern exposure of any valley I have ever seen. And if the Indians
do not frequent it, you may be sure the buffalo do. It is enriched
by them—and they are compensated by its abundant crop of
grass.

“Beautiful!” exclaimed Glenn, gazing at a number of wild
horses through his pocket glass. “They are fat and saucy.”

“Yes, I see them,” said William. “They are the same, domestic
or wild;—the most beautiful of the quadruped creation, and often
the most playful of animals. They range over a wide extent of
country, and there is a superstition among the Indians that there is
one among them, and the leader of them all—a large and magnificently
white horse, that never dies. It is certain he has never been
captured or killed.”

“Can that be so?” asked Glenn.

“There is some apparent foundation for it, in the fact that all
droves of wild horses have their leaders, the most formidable and
sagacious specimens of their kind; and these chiefs are frequently
white. They are not taken, because they are the fleetest of their
race; and rarely shot, because they are the most watchful. From
this example is derived the custom among the Indians, in their battles,

to place their commander-in-chief on a white horse, and I believe
civilized nations are adopting the same habit.

“Yes, I believe so,” said Glenn; “and truly much may be learned
in the wilderness, as well as in the teeming haunts of civilization.
Why should not horses have a king, as well as bees their
queen. Even the swans and geese which fly over us now, have their
leaders. And lo! I see the white horse. There, a little to the
right of the others, and nearer the mound than the rest.”

This was true. The large and majestic animal came in view by
ascending to the summit of a slight elevation in the prairie between
the mound and the green pasture in which the rest were collected.
He stood with his breast toward the men, his neck arched, and his
long mane and tail lifted horizontally by the gentle breeze. His
ears were thrust forward, and his gaze fixed with steadiness upon
the strangers or intruders in his dominions. After standing thus
some minutes, he turned his head over his back and neighed loudly;
this brought most of the family to the high prairie, and all seemed
to gaze in the direction of the mound.

“It is curiosity, more than alarm,” said William. “I doubt
whether they have ever been pursued by man. However, most animals
seem to know when they are within reach of the missiles of
man's invention, and these horses are a quarter of a mile distant.”

“They are beautiful,” said Glenn. “I see them of every hue;
but the speckled or spotted ones, predominate. And they are fat,
too.”

“Certainly,” said William, “in such pastures as these. No doubt
they frequent our valley in the winter, where I am satisfied the
green grass is perennial. If we adhere to the rule adopted, and accustom
them to see us often with impunity, in process of time they
will come to regard us as protectors, rather than as enemies.”

“The rule must be observed, if possible,” said Glenn, animated
at the thought of being able to see such numbers of beautiful wild
horses from the tower of the mansion. “And I will do more; I will
have salt sprinkled on the earth expressly for them; and if our corn
matures before the frost whitens the valley—if it ever whitens it—
they shall be fed at certain places as near the enclosure as possible.”

“It will be a successful experiment,” said William; “and surely
we can at any time kill enough game in these woods, without being
under the necessity of disturbing the visitors to the valley. Still,
we must not be too sure. For the animals, quick to learn where
danger exists, may abandon the forest and congregate in the place
where there is an exemption from wounds and death. But, in proof
that they have not yet acquired that knowledge, just listen to Sneak
and Joe.”