by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
"We were all soon engaged in different occupations. Mary was preparingthe dried meat, which she intended to boil along with the locust-beansin our tin-pot. Fortunately, it was a large one, and held nearly agallon. Cudjo was busy kindling the fire, which already sent up itsvolumes of blue smoke. Frank, Harry, and the little ones, were suckingaway at the natural preserves of the acacia, while I was dressing myarmadillo for the spit. In addition to this, our horse was filling outhis sides upon the rich buffalo-grass that grew along the stream; andthe dogs--poor fellows! they were like to fare worst of all--stoodwatching my operations, and snapped eagerly at every scrap that fellfrom my knife. In a very short while the fire was blazing up, the beefand beans were bubbling over it in the tin-pot, and the armadillo wassputtering on the spit beside them. In another short while all thingswere cooked and ready to be eaten.
"We now remembered that we had neither plates, glasses, knives, forks,nor spoons--yes, Cudjo and I had our hunting-knives; and, as it was notime to be nice, with these we fished the pieces of meat and some of thebeans out of the soup-pot, and placed them upon a clean, flat stone.For the soup itself, we immersed the lower part of the pot into the coolwater of the stream, so that in a short time Mary and the children couldapply the edge of it to their lips, and drink of it in turn.
"As for Cudjo and myself, we did not want any of the soup. We werealtogether for the `substantials.'
"I thought, at first, I should have all the armadillo to myself. EvenCudjo, who in `ole Vaginny' had bolted 'coons, 'possums, and variousother `varmints,' for a long time hung back. Seeing, however, that Iwas eating with evident relish, he held out his sable paw, and desiredme to help him to a small piece. Having once tasted it, the ice of hisappetite seemed to be all at once broken, and he kept asking for more,and then for more, until I began to fear he would not leave me enoughfor my own support.
"Neither Mary nor the boys, however, would consent to share with us,although I assured them, what was positively the fact, that what I waseating was equal in delicacy of flavour to the finest roast pig--a dish,by the way, to which the armadillo bears a very great resemblance.
"The sun was now setting, and we began to think how we were to pass thenight. We had left all our blankets in the wagon, and the air was fastbecoming cold, which is always the case in the neighbourhood of snowymountains. This is easily explained. The atmosphere getting cool uponthe peak, where it envelopes the snow, of course becomes heavier, andkeeps constantly descending around the base of the mountain, and pushingup and out that air which is warmer and lighter. In fact, there was asensible breeze blowing down the sides of the mountain--caused by thesenatural laws--and it had already made us chilly, after the burning heatthrough which we had been travelling. Should we sleep in this coldatmosphere--even though we should keep up a fire during the wholenight--I knew that we must suffer much.
"The thought now entered my mind, that I might go back to the wagon--which was only five miles off--and bring up our blankets. Should I gomyself, or send Cudjo, or should both of us go? All at once the ideacame into my head that one of us might ride there, and bring back a loadof other articles, as well as the blankets. Our horse, who had beenfilling himself for the last hour and a half with good grass and water,already began to show symptoms of life and vigour. Animals of this kindsoon recover from fatigue, when their food and drink are restored tothem. I saw that he would be quite able to do the journey, so I gaveCudjo directions to catch him. There happened to be a piece of ropearound his neck, and this would serve for a bridle. I hesitated forsome time, whether both Cudjo and I should leave Mary and the children;but my wife urged us to go, telling us she would have no fear, as longas Harry and Frank with their rifles remained with her. The dogs, too,would stay. Indeed, there was not much danger of their leaving her,while she held in her arms the little Luisa, whom both these animalsseemed to watch over.
"Influenced by her advice, I consented to leave her alone with thechildren; and, giving directions that they should fire off one of therifles, in case of any alarm, I set forth, with Cudjo and the horse.
"We could see the white tilt of the wagon from the very start; and wehad no difficulty in guiding ourselves to it.
"As we passed onward, I was reflecting whether the wolves had notalready made a meal of our poor ox that we had left by the wagon. Ifnot, it was my intention to skin him, and save the meat, lean and toughas it must be--for the animal, when we left him, looked like some dryskeleton to be preserved in a museum. Still I saw before us no prospectof a better breakfast, and I began to grow very anxious as to whether wemight find a bit of him left. At this moment, I was startled from myreflections by an exclamation from Cudjo, who had stopped suddenly, andwas pointing to some object directly ahead of us. I looked forward; andsaw in the dim light something that very much resembled a largequadruped.
"`P'raps, Massa,' whispered Cudjo, `him be de buffler.'
"`Perhaps it is a buffalo; but what is to be done? I have left myrifle. Here! take the horse, and I will endeavour to get near enough tokill it with my pistols.'
"Giving Cudjo the horse, and cautioning him to be silent, I drew thelargest of my pistols, and crept silently forward. I went upon my handsand knees, and very slowly, so as not to give the animal an alarm. As Igot nearer, I felt sure it was a buffalo; but the moon had not yetrisen, and I could see its form but very indistinctly. At length, Ibelieved I had it within range of my pistol; at least, thought I, if Igo any nearer it will make off; so I halted--still upon my knees--andmade ready to fire. As I raised my weapon, the horse suddenly neighed;and, in answer to his neigh, the strange animal uttered a loud roar,which I knew to be nothing else than the bellowing of an ox! And so itproved, as it was neither more nor less than our own ox, who had leftthe wagon, and was slowly making his way for the mountain. The cool airhad somewhat revived him, and instinct, or a knowledge of the way we hadgone, was guiding him in that direction.
"I know not whether I was more pleased or disappointed at meeting ourold companion. A good fat buffalo would have been more welcome at thetime than a famished ox; but when I reflected that he might yet help usto get out of the Desert, I felt that we were fortunate in finding himstill alive. The horse and he put their noses together, evidentlypleased at again meeting each other; and I could not help thinking, asthe ox shook his long tail, that the horse must have whispered to himabout the nice grass and water that were so near. The ox had his reinsupon him; and lest he might stray from the track, we tied him to asage-bush, so that we might take him with us on our way back.
"We were about leaving him, when it occurred to me, that if the ox onlyhad a little water, he might, along with the horse, enable us to bringthe wagon up to the mountain. What a delightful surprise it would be toMary, to see us return with ox, wagon, and all;--not only the blankets,but also our cups, pans, and cooking-pots, besides some coffee, andother little luxuries, that were stored away in our great chest! Ha!thought I, that would be delightful; and I immediately communicated theidea to Cudjo. My companion fully agreed with me, and believed it quitepossible and practicable. We had brought along with us the tin-pot fallof cool water from the stream; but it was too narrow at the mouth, andthe ox could not possibly drink out of it.
"`Let us gib it, Massa Roff,' advised Cudjo, `in de ole hoss-bucket,once we gets 'im back to de wagon. Ya! ya! we gib Missa anabstonishment.' And my light-hearted companion laughed with delight, atthe prospect of making his mistress happy on our return.
"Without farther parley, we unloosed the rein from the sage-bush, andled the ox back towards the wagon. Neither of us rode the horse, as weknew he would have enough to do in dragging up his share of the load.
"On reaching the wagon, we found everything as we had left it; butseveral large white wolves were prowling around; and, no doubt, it hadbeen the sight of them that had roused the ox, and imparted to him theenergy that had enabled him to get away
from the spot.
"We soon found the bucket; and, pouring the water into it, set it beforethe ox, who drank every drop of it, and then licked the sides andbottom, of the vessel until they were quite dry. We now `hitched to'both the animals; and, without more ado, drove off towards our littlecamp at the mountain.
"We guided ourselves by the fire, which we could see burning brightlyunder the dark shadow of the cliffs. Its blaze had a cheering effect onthe spirits both of my companion and myself; and even the horse and oxseemed to understand that it would be the end of their journey, andpressed forward with alacrity to reach it.
"When within about half a mile, I heard the report of a rifle ringingamong the rocks. I was filled with alarm. Were Mary and the childrenattacked by Indians?--perhaps by some savage animal?--perhaps by thegrizzly bear?
"I did not hesitate a moment, but ran forward--leaving Cudjo with thewagon. I drew my pistol, and held it in readiness as I advanced, allthe while listening eagerly to catch every sound that might come fromthe direction of the fire. Once or twice I stopped for short intervalsto breathe and listen; but there were no noises from the camp! Whatcould be the meaning of the silence? Where were the dogs? I knew that,had they been attacked by a grizzly bear, or any other animal, I shouldhave heard their barks and worrying. But there was not a sound. Hadthey been killed all at once by Indian arrows, so silent in their deadlyeffect? O God! had my wife, and children too, fallen victims?
"Filled with painful apprehensions, I ran forward with increased energy,determined to rush into the midst of the enemy--whoever they might be--and sell my life as dearly as possible.
"At length, I came within full view of the fire. What was myastonishment, as well as joy, on seeing my wife sitting by the blaze,with little Luisa upon her knee, while Mary was playing upon the groundat her feet! But where were Harry and Frank? It was quiteincomprehensible. I knew that they would not have fired the rifle toalarm me unnecessarily, yet there sat Mary as though no rifle had beenfired!
"`What was it, dear Mary?' I cried, running up. `Where are the boys?--they discharged the rifle, did they not?'
"`They did,' she replied; `Harry fired at something.'
"`At what?--at what?' I inquired.
"`At some animal, I know not what kind; but I think they must havewounded it, for they all ran out, dogs and all, after the shot wasfired, and have not yet come back.'
"`In what direction?' I asked hurriedly.
"Mary pointed out the direction; and, without waiting further, I ran offinto the darkness. When about an hundred yards from the fire, I cameupon Harry, Frank, and the mastiffs, standing over some animal which Isaw was quite dead. Harry was not a little proud of the shot he hadmade, and expected me to congratulate him, which of course I did; andlaying hold of the animal by one of its hind-legs--for it had no tail tolay hold of--I dragged it forward to the light of the fire. It appearedto be about the size of a sucking calf, though much more elegantlyshaped, for its legs were long and slender, and its shanks not thickerthan a common walking-cane. It was of a pale red colour, whitish alongthe breast and belly, but its large, languishing eyes and slenderforking horns told me at once what sort of animal it was; it was theprong-horned antelope,--the only species of antelope found in NorthAmerica.
"Mary new related the adventure. While they were sitting silently bythe fire, and somewhat impatiently awaiting our return--for the wagonhad delayed us considerably--they saw a pair of large eyes glancing inthe darkness like two candles, and not many yards from where they sat.They could see nothing but the eyes; but this of itself was sufficientto alarm them, as they fancied it might be a wolf, or, perhaps stillworse, a hear or panther. They did not lose presence of mind, however;and they knew that to escape by running away would be impossible; soboth Frank and Harry took hold of their rifles--though Harry wasforemost with his. He then aimed, as well as he could, between the twoglancing eyes, and pulled trigger. Of course the smoke blinded them,and in the darkness they could not tell whether the bullet had hit theanimal or not; but the dogs--who up to this time had been sleeping bythe fire--sprang to their feet, and ran out in pursuit. They could hearthem running for some distance, and then they heard a scramble and astruggle, and then they were silent; so they concluded--what afterwardsproved to be the case--that Harry had wounded the animal, and that thedogs had caught, and were worrying it. And so they were, for as theboys got to the spot they had just killed it; and--hungry as they were--would soon have made a meal of it had Frank and Harry not got up in goodtime to prevent them. The antelope had been shot in the shoulder, andhad only run for a short distance before it fell.
"Although Harry did not boast of his prowess, I saw that he had atriumphant look,--the more so as this fine piece of venison would ensureus all against hunger for three days at the least; and, considering thatonly an hour before we did not know where the next meal was to comefrom, it was certainly no small matter to be proud of. I thought justthen of the surprise I had prepared for them, not only in bringing upthe wagon which contained all our utensils and comforts, but in therecovery of our best ox.
"`Where is Cudjo?' asked my wife. `Is he bringing the blankets?'
"`Yes,' said I, knowingly, `and a good load besides.'
"At that moment was heard the creaking of wheels, and the great tilt ofwhite canvass was seen, far out, reflecting back the blaze of the fire.Frank leaped to his feet, and, clapping his hands with delight, criedout,--
"`Mamma! mamma! it is the wagon!'
"Then was heard the loud voice of Cudjo in a joyous `Wo-ha!' and themoment after, the horse and ox stepped up to the fire as lightly as ifthe pull had been a mere bagatelle; and they could have stood it anhundred miles farther without flinching. We were not slow in relievingboth of them from their traces, and giving them a full swing at thegrass and water.
"As it was now late in the night, and we were all very tired, from thefatigues we had undergone, we determined to lose no time in going torest. Mary went to prepare a bed in the wagon,--for this was our onlytent, and a very excellent tent it was, too. At the same time, Cudjoand I set about skinning the antelope, so that we might have it in fineorder for our breakfast in the morning. The dogs, too, were interestedin this operation,--for they, poor brutes, up to this time, had faredworse than any of us. However, the head, feet, and intestines, fell totheir share; and they soon had a supper to their hearts' content.Having finished skinning the antelope, we tied a rope to its legs, andslung it up to the branch of a tree--high enough to be out of the reachof wolves, as well as our own dogs, during the night.
"Mary had by this time completed the arrangements for our sleeping; andbut one thing more remained to be done before retiring to rest. Thatwas a duty which we never neglected when circumstances admitted of itsbeing performed. Mary knew this, and had brought out of the wagon theonly book which it contained--the Bible. Cudjo turned up the pine logsupon the fire; and, seating ourselves around the blaze, I read from theSacred Book those passages which were most appropriate to our ownsituation,--how God had preserved Moses and the children of Israel inthe Desert Wilderness.
"Then, with clasped hands and grateful hearts, we all knelt, and offeredthanks for our own almost miraculous deliverance."