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 o............