health and happiness return--incidents of the journey--abuffalo shot--a wild horse "creased"--dick's battle witha mustang.
dick varley's fears and troubles, in the meantime,were ended. on the day following heawoke refreshed and happy--so happy and light atheart, as he felt the glow of returning health coursingthrough his veins, that he fancied he must have dreamedit all. in fact, he was so certain that his muscles werestrong that he endeavoured to leap up, but was powerfullyconvinced of his true condition by the miserablestagger that resulted from the effort.
however, he knew he was recovering, so he rose, andthanking god for his recovery, and for the new hopethat was raised in his heart, he went down to the pooland drank deeply of its water. then he returned, and,sitting down beside his dog, opened the bible and readlong--and, for the first time, earnestly--the story ofchrist's love for sinful man. he at last fell asleep overthe book, and when he awakened felt so much refreshedin body and mind that he determined to attempt topursue his journey.
he had not proceeded far when he came upon acolony of prairie-dogs. upon this occasion he was littleinclined to take a humorous view of the vagaries ofthese curious little creatures, but he shot one, and, asbefore, ate part of it raw. these creatures are so activethat they are difficult to shoot, and even when killedgenerally fall into their holes and disappear. crusoe,however, soon unearthed the dead animal on this occasion.
that night the travellers came to a stream offresh water, and dick killed a turkey, so that he determinedto spend a couple of days there to recruit. atthe end of that time he again set out, but was able onlyto advance five miles when he broke down. in fact, itbecame evident to him that he must have a longer periodof absolute repose ere he could hope to continue hisjourney; but to do so without food was impossible.
fortunately there was plenty of water, as his course layalong the margin of a small stream, and, as the aridpiece of prairie was now behind him, he hoped to fall inwith birds, or perhaps deer, soon.
while he was plodding heavily and wearily along,pondering these things, he came to the brow of a wavefrom which he beheld a most magnificent view of greengrassy plains decked with flowers, and rolling out tothe horizon, with a stream meandering through it, andclumps of trees scattered everywhere far and wide. itwas a glorious sight; but the most glorious object in itto dick, at that time, was a fat buffalo which stoodgrazing not a hundred yards off. the wind was blowingtowards him, so that the animal did not scent him,and, as he came up very slowly, and it was turned away,it did not see him.
crusoe would have sprung forward in an instant, buthis master's finger imposed silence and caution. tremblingwith eagerness, dick sank flat down in the grass,cocked both barrels of his piece, and, resting it on hisleft hand with his left elbow on the ground, he waiteduntil the animal should present its side. in a fewseconds it moved; dick's eye glanced along the barrel,but it trembled--his wonted steadiness of aim wasgone. he fired, and the buffalo sprang off in terror.
with a groan of despair he fired again---almost recklessly--andthe buffalo fell! it rose once or twice andstumbled forward a few paces, then it fell again. meanwhiledick reloaded with trembling hand, and advancedto give it another shot; but it was not needful--thebuffalo was already dead.
"now, crusoe," said dick, sitting down on the buffalo'sshoulder and patting his favourite on the head, "we'reall right at last. you and i shall have a jolly time o't,pup, from this time for'ard."dick paused for breath, and crusoe wagged his tailand looked as if to say--pshaw! "as if!"we tell you what it is, reader, it's of no use at all togo on writing "as if," when we tell you what crusoesaid. if there is any language in eyes whatever--ifthere is language in a tail, in a cocked ear, in a mobileeyebrow, in the point of a canine nose,--if there islanguage in any terrestrial thing at all, apart from thatwhich flows from the tongue, then crusoe spoke! dowe not speak at this moment to you? and if so, thentell me wherein lies the difference between a writtenletter and a given sign?
yes, crusoe spoke. he said to dick as plain as dogcould say it, slowly and emphatically, "that's my opinionprecisely, dick. you're the dearest, most beloved, jolliestfellow that ever walked on two legs, you are; andwhatever's your opinion is mine, no matter how absurdit may be."dick evidently understood him perfectly, for helaughed as he looked at him and patted him on thehead, and called him a "funny dog." then he continuedhis discourse:--"yes, pup, we'll make our camp here for a long bit,old dog, in this beautiful plain. we'll make a willowwigwam to sleep in, you and i, jist in yon clump o'
trees, not a stone's-throw to our right, where we'll havea run o' pure water beside us, and be near our buffaloat the same time. for, ye see, we'll need to watch himlest the wolves take a notion to eat him--that'll beyour duty, pup. then i'll skin him when i get strongenough, which'll be in a day or two, i hope, and we'llput one-half of the skin below us and t'other half aboveus i' the camp, an' sleep, an' eat, an' take it easy for aweek or two--won't we, pup?""hoora-a-a-y!" shouted crusoe, with a jovial wag ofhis tail, that no human arm with hat, or cap, or kerchiefever equalled.
poor dick varley! he smiled to think how earnestlyhe had been talking to the dog; but he did not cease todo it, for although he entered into discourses the driftof which crusoe's limited education did not permit himto follow, he found comfort in hearing the sound of hisown voice, and in knowing that it fell pleasantly onanother ear in that lonely wilderness.
our hero now set about his preparations as vigorouslyas he could. he cut out the buffalo's tongue--a matterof great difficulty to one in his weak state--and carriedit to a pleasant spot near to the stream where the turfwas level and green, and decked with wild flowers.
here he resolved to make his camp.
his first care was to select a bush whose brancheswere long enough to form a canopy over his head whenbent, and the ends thrust into the ground. the completingof this exhausted him greatly, but after a resthe resumed his labours. the next thing was to light afire--a comfort which he had not enjoyed for manyweary days. not that he required it for warmth, forthe weather was extremely warm, but he required it tocook with, and the mere sight of a blaze in a dark placeis a most heart-cheering thing, as every one knows.
when the fire was lighted he filled his pannikin atthe brook and put it on to boil, and cutting severalslices of buffalo tongue, he thrust short stakes throughthem and set them up before the fire to roast. by thistime the water was boiling, so he took it off with difficulty,nearly burning his fingers and singeing the tail ofhis coat in so doing. into the pannikin he put a lumpof maple sugar, and stirred it about with a stick, andtasted it. it seemed to him even better than tea orcoffee. it was absolutely delicious!
really one has no notion what he can do if he makesbelieve very hard. the human mind is a nicely balancedand extremely complex machine, and when thrown alittle off the balance can be made to believe almost anything,as we see in the case of some poor monomaniacs,who have fancied that they were made of all sorts ofthings--glass and porcelain, and such like. no wonderthen that poor dick varley, after so much suffering andhardship, came to regard that pannikin of hot sirup asthe most delicious beverage he ever drank.
during all these operations crusoe sat on his haunchesbeside him and looked. and you haven't, no, youhaven't got the most distant notion of the way in whichthat dog manoeuvred with his head and face. he openedhis eyes wide, and cocked his ears, and turned his headfirst a little to one side, then a little to the other. afterthat he turned it a good deal to one side, and then agood deal more to the other. then he brought it straight,and raised one eyebrow a little, and then the other alittle, and then both together very much. then, whendick paused to rest and did nothing, crusoe looked mildfor a moment, and yawned vociferously. presently dickmoved--up went the ears again, and crusoe came, inmilitary parlance, "to the position of attention!" atlast supper was ready and they began.
dick had purposely kept the dog's supper back fromhim, in order that they might eat it in company. andbetween every bite and sup that dick took, he gave abite--but not a sup--to crusoe. thus lovingly theyate together; and when dick lay that night under thewillow branches, looking up through them at the stars,with his feet to the fire and crusoe close along his side,he thought it the best and sweetest supper he ever ate,and the happiest evening he ever spent--so wonderfullydo circumstances modify our notions of felicity.
two weeks after this "richard was himself again."the muscles were springy, and the blood coursed fastand free, as was its wont. only a slight, and, perhaps,salutary feeling of weakness remained, to remind himthat young muscles might again become more helplessthan those of an aged man or a child.
dick had left his encampment a week ago, and wasnow advancing by rapid stages towards the rockymountains, closely following the trail of his lost comrades,which he had no difficulty in finding and keepingnow that crusoe was with him. the skin of the buffalothat he had killed was now strapped to his shoulders,and the skin of another animal that he had shot a fewdays after was cut up into a long line and slung in acoil round his neck. crusoe was also laden. he had alittle bundle of meat slung on each side of him.
for some time past numerous herds of mustangs, orwild horses, had crossed their path, and dick was nowon the look-out for a chance to crease one of those magnificentcreatures.
on one occasion a band of mustangs galloped closeup to him before they were aware of his presence, andstopped short with a wild snort of surprise on beholdinghim; then, wheeling round, they dashed away at fullgallop, their long tails and manes flying wildly in theair, and their hoofs thundering on the plain. dickdid not attempt to crease one upon this occasion, fearingthat his recent illness might have rendered his hand toounsteady for so extremely delicate an operation.
in order to crease a wild horse the hunter requiresto be a perfect shot, and it is not every man of the westwho carries a rifle that can do it successfully. creasingconsists in sending a bullet through the gristle of themustang's neck, just above the bone, so as to stun theanimal. if the ball enters a hair's-breadth too low,the horse falls dead instantly. if it hits the exactspot, the horse falls as instantaneously, and dead to allappearance; but, in reality, he is only stunned, and ifleft for a few minutes will rise and gallop away nearlyas well as ever. when hunters crease a horse successfullythey put a rope, or halter, round his under jawand hobbles round his feet, so that when he rises heis secured, and, after considerable trouble, reduced toobedience.
the mustangs which roam in wild freedom on theprairies of the far west are descended from the noblespanish steeds that were brought over by the wealthycavaliers who accompanied fernando cortez, the conquerorof mexico, in his expedition to the new world in1518. these bold, and, we may add, lawless cavalierswere mounted on the finest horses that could be procuredfrom barbary and the deserts of the old world. thepoor indians of the new world were struck with amazementand terror at these awful beings, for, never havingseen horses before, they believed that horse and riderwere one animal. during the wars that followed manyof the spaniards were killed, and their steeds boundedinto the wilds of the new country, to enjoy a life ofunrestrained freedom. these were the forefathers ofthe present race of magnificent creatures which arefound in immense droves all over the western wilderness,from the gulf of mexico to the confines of thesnowy regions of the far north.
at first the indians beheld these horses with awe andterror, but gradually they became accustomed to them,and finally succeeded in capturing great numbers andreducing them to a state of servitude. not, however,to the service of the cultivated field, but to the serviceof the chase and war. the savages soon acquired themethod of capturing wild horses by means of the lasso--asthe noose at that end of a long line of raw hide istermed--which they adroitly threw over the heads ofthe animals and secured them, having previously runthem down. at the present day many of the savagetribes of the west almost live upon horseback, andwithout these useful creatures they could scarcely subsist,as they are almost indispensable in the chase ofthe buffalo.
mustangs are regularly taken by the indians to thesettlements of the white men for trade, but very poorspecimens are these of the breed of wild horses. thisarises from two causes. first, the indian cannot overtakethe finest of a drove of wild mustangs, because his ownsteed is inferior to the best among the wild ones, besidesbeing weighted with a rider, so that only the weak andinferior animals are captured. and, secondly, when theindian does succeed in lassoing a first-rate horse hekeeps it for his own use. thus, those who have notvisited the far-off prairies and seen the mustang in allthe glory of untrammelled freedom, can form no adequateidea of its beauty, fleetness, and strength.
the horse, however, was not the only creature importedby cortez. there were priests in his army whorode upon asses, and although we cannot imagine thatthe "fathers" charged with the cavaliers and were unhorsed,or, rather, un-assed in battle, yet, somehow, theasses got rid of their riders and joined the spanishchargers in their joyous bound into a new life of freedom.
hence wild asses also are found in the westernprairies. but think not, reader, of those poor miserablewretches we see at home, which seem little better thanrough door-mats sewed up and stuffed, with head, tail,and legs attached, and just enough of life infused tomake them move! no, the wild ass of the prairie is alarge powerful, swift creature. he has the same longears, it is true, and the same hideous, exasperating bray,and the same tendency to flourish his heels; but for allthat he is a very fine animal, and often wages successfulwarfare with the wild horse.
but to return. the next drove of mustangs thatdick and crusoe saw were feeding quietly and unsuspectinglyin a rich green hollow in the plain. dick'sheart leaped up as his eyes suddenly fell on them, forhe had almost discovered himself before he was awareof their presence.
"down, pup!" he whispered, as he sank and disappearedamong the grass, which was just long enoughto cover him when lying quite flat.
crusoe crouched immediately, and his master madehis observations of the drove, and the dispositions ofthe ground that might favour his approach, for theywere not within rifle range. having done so he creptslowly back until the undulation of the prairie hid himfrom view; then he sprang to his feet, and ran a considerabledistance along the bottom until he gained theextreme end of a belt of low bushes, which would effectuallyconceal him while he approached to within ahundred yards or less of the troop.
here he made his arrangements. throwing downhis buffalo robe, he took the coil of line and cut off apiece of about three yards in length. on this he madea running noose. the longer line he also preparedwith a running noose. these he threw in a coil overhis arm.
he also made a pair of hobbles, and placed them inthe breast of his coat, and then, taking up his rifle,advanced cautiously through the bushes--crusoe followingclose behind him. in a few minutes he was gazingin admiration at the mustangs, which were now withineasy shot, and utterly ignorant of the presence of man,for dick had taken care to approach in such a waythat the wind did not carry the scent of him in theirdirection.
and well might he admire them. the wild horse ofthese regions is not very large, but it is exceedinglypowerful, with prominent eye, sharp nose, distendednostril, small feet, and a delicate leg. their beautifulmanes hung at great length down their arched necks,and their thick tails swept the ground. one magnificentfellow in particular attracted dick's attention.
he was of a rich dark-brown colour, with black maneand tail, and seemed to be the leader of the drove.
although not the nearest to him, he resolved to creasethis horse. it is said that creasing generally destroysor damages the spirit of the horse, so dick determinedto try whether his powers of close shooting would not serve him onthisoccasion. going down on one knee he aimed at the creature's neck, justahair's-breadthabove the spot where he had been told that huntersusually hit them, and fired. the effect upon the groupwas absolutely tremendous. with wild cries and snortingterror they tossed their proud heads in the air,uncertain for one moment in which direction to fly;then there was a rush as if a hurricane swept over theplace, and they were gone.
but the brown horse was down. dick did not waituntil the others had fled. he dropped his rifle, andwith the speed of a deer sprang towards the fallenhorse, and affixed the hobbles to his legs. his aim hadbeen true. although scarcely half a minute elapsedbetween the shot and the fixing of the hobbles, theanimal recovered, and with a frantic exertion rose onhis haunches, just as dick had fastened the noose ofthe short line in his under jaw. but this was notenough. if the horse had gained his feet before thelonger line was placed round his neck, he would haveescaped. as the mustang made the second violentplunge that placed it on its legs, dick flung the noosehastily; it caught on one ear, and would have fallenoff, had not the horse suddenly shaken its head, andunwittingly sealed its own fate by bringing the nooseround its neck.
and now the struggle began. dick knew wellenough, from hearsay, the method of "breaking down"a wild horse. he knew that the indians choke themwith the noose round the neck until they fall downexhausted and covered with foam, when they creep up,fix the hobbles, and the line in the lower jaw, and thenloosen the lasso to let the horse breathe, and resume itsplungings till it is almost subdued, when they graduallydraw near and breathe into its nostrils. but the violenceand strength of this animal rendered this anapparently hopeless task. we have already seen thatthe hobbles and noose in the lower jaw had been fixed,so that dick had nothing now to do but to choke hiscaptive, and tire him out, while crusoe remained a quietthough excited spectator of the scene.
but there seemed to be no possibility of choking thishorse. either the muscles of his neck were too strong,or there was something wrong with the noose whichprevented it from acting, for the furious creature dashedand bounded backwards and sideways in its terror fornearly an hour, dragging dick after it, till he wasalmost exhausted; and yet, at the end of that time,although flecked with foam and panting with terror,it seemed as strong as ever. dick held both lines, forthe short one attached to its lower jaw gave him greatpower over it. at last he thought of seeking assistancefrom his dog.
"crusoe," he cried, "lay hold, pup!"the dog seized the long line in his teeth and pulledwith all his might. at the same moment dick let gothe short line and threw all his weight upon the longone. the noose tightened suddenly under this strain,and the mustang, with a gasp, fell choking to theground.
dick had often heard of the manner in which themexicans "break" their horses, so he determined toabandon the method which had already almost wornhim out, and adopt the other, as far as the means inhis power rendered it possible. instead, therefore, ofloosening the lasso and re-commencing the struggle, hetore a branch from a neighbouring bush, cut the hobbles,strode with his legs across the fallen steed, seized theend of the short line or bridle, and then, ordering crusoeto quit his hold, he loosened the noose which compressedthe horse's neck and had already well-nigh terminatedits existence.
one or two deep sobs restored it, and in a momentit leaped to its feet with dick firmly on its back. tosay that the animal leaped and kicked in its franticefforts to throw this intolerable burden would be a tamemanner of expressing what took place. words cannotadequately describe the scene. it reared, plunged,shrieked, vaulted into the air, stood straight upon its hind legs, and then almost as straight upon its foreones; but its rider held on like a burr. then themustang raced wildly forwards a few paces, then aswildly back, and then stood still and trembled violently.
but this was only a brief lull in the storm, so dick sawthat the time was now come to assert the superiority ofhis race.
"stay back, crusoe, and watch my rifle, pup," hecried, and raising his heavy switch he brought it downwith a sharp cut across the horse's flank, at the sametime loosening the rein which hitherto he had heldtight.
the wild horse uttered a passionate cry, and sprangforward like the bolt from a cross-bow.
and now commenced a race which, if not so prolonged,was at least as furious as that of the far-famedmazeppa. dick was a splendid rider, however--atleast as far as "sticking on" goes. he might nothave come up to the precise pitch desiderated by ariding-master in regard to carriage, etc., but he rodethat wild horse of the prairie with as much ease as hehad formerly ridden his own good steed, whose boneshad been picked by the wolves not long ago.
the pace was tremendous, for the youth's weightwas nothing to that muscular frame, which boundedwith cat-like agility from wave to wave of the undulatingplain in ungovernable terror. in a few minutesthe clump of willows where crusoe and his rifle laywere out of sight behind; but it mattered not, for dickhad looked up at the sky and noted the position of thesun at the moment of starting. away they went onthe wings of the wind, mile after mile over the ocean-likewaste--curving slightly aside now and then toavoid the bluffs that occasionally appeared on thescene for a few minutes and then swept out of sightbehind them. then they came to a little rivulet. itwas a mere brook of a few feet wide, and two or threeyards, perhaps, from bank to bank. over this theyflew so easily that the spring was scarcely felt, andcontinued the headlong course. and now a morebarren country was around them. sandy ridges andscrubby grass appeared everywhere, reminding dick ofthe place where he had been so ill. rocks, too, werescattered about, and at one place the horse dashedwith clattering hoofs between a couple of rocky sand-hills which, fora fewseconds, hid the prairie fromview. here the mustang suddenly shied with suchviolence that his rider was nearly thrown, while arattlesnake darted from the path. soon they emergedfrom this pass, and again the plains became green andverdant. presently a distant line of trees showed thatthey were approaching water, and in a few minutesthey were close on it. for the first time dick feltalarm. he sought to check his steed, but no force hecould exert had the smallest influence on it.
trees and bushes flew past in bewildering confusion.
the river was before him; what width, he could nottell, but he was reckless now, like his charger, which hestruck with the willow rod with all his force as theycame up. one tremendous bound, and they wereacross, but dick had to lie flat on the mustang's backas it crashed through the bushes to avoid being scrapedoff by the trees. again they were on the open plain,and the wild horse began to show signs of exhaustion.
now was its rider's opportunity to assert his dominion.
he plied the willow rod and urged the pantinghorse on, until it was white with foam and laboureda little in its gait. then dick gently drew the halter,and it broke into a trot; still tighter, and it walked,and in another minute stood still, trembling in everylimb. dick now quietly rubbed its neck, and spoketo it in soothing tones; then he wheeled it gentlyround, and urged it forward. it was quite subduedand docile. in a little time they came to the riverand forded it, after which they went through the beltof woodland at a walk. by the time they reached theopen prairie the mustang was recovered sufficiently tofeel its spirit returning, so dick gave it a gentle touchwith the switch, and away they went on their returnjourney.
but it amazed dick not a little to find how longthat journey was. very different was the pace, too,from the previous mad gallop, and often would the poorhorse have stopped had dick allowed him. but thismight not be. the shades of night were approaching,and the camp lay a long way ahead.
at last it was reached, and crusoe came out withgreat demonstrations of joy, but was sent back lest heshould alarm the horse. then dick jumped off hisback, stroked his head, put his cheek close to hismouth and whispered softly to him, after which hefastened him to a tree and rubbed him down slightlywith a bunch of grass. having done this, he left himto graze as far as his tether would permit; and, aftersupping with crusoe, lay down to-rest, not a littleelated with his success in this first attempt at "creasing"and "breaking" a mustang.
