This question became a pressing one to our settlers in the “old lake bottom,” by the Necedah river. The severe summer drouth had cut short the yield of their potato crop upon which high hopes had rested at the spring planting, and a great horde3 of migrating squirrels had harvested their little field of corn before it had ripened4.
Ruffled5 grouse6, or “prairie-chickens,” as they were called, were abundant up to the time of the big fires in August. Indeed, from the first of July the young birds had furnished a supply of meat for the table more delicious than the boys of the family had ever known.
The old sow, which they had succeeded in bringing
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through the winter, had been turned out into the hardwood timber along the river to care for herself, and Uncle Sam Thompson reported having seen her on Big Bend with a fine litter of pigs, which would thrive upon the “mast,” the nuts of oak and hickory, and furnish good “hams” and “sides” by Christmas.
The fire which had come down out of the big woods during the summer, burning over the low prairies and shallow marches had been followed by a week of heavy rains, and what had been a wide stretch of blackened waste was soon transformed by the springing grass into an emerald garden. While light frosts occasionally nipped the top, through September, the grass grew rapidly and luxuriantly, and Mr. Allen’s few cows and yoke7 of young oxen were rolling with fat by October.
Families and herds9 of deer might be seen any day a mile west from the Allen home, though they appeared to be more difficult of approach as the cold season came on. As many as twenty in one herd8 were counted by the boys at one time. While they had become expert with their guns in securing small game, neither Rob nor Ed had as yet tried their marksmanship upon the larger animals.
There was, at that time, no “closed” season for its protection, but the settlers, as a rule, never killed game wantonly, nor for “sport.” No deer were shot in the summer, especially while the young needed the care of its mother. But when the sharp, frosty nights of October came, the hunter’s appetite was allowed to
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match the woods-wisdom and cunning of the “antlered lords of the forest.”
The moonlight nights of October is the mating season, and then the hunters know that the deer keep to regular paths or “runs” through the forest. Rough platforms of boughs10 were built upon the low branches of some tree at the crossing or intersection11 of two runs, and upon this the hunter will take his seat and watch, while a comrade starts off, and making a wide detour12, starts a “drive” in the direction of the ambush13. The watcher in the tree must be alert, quick of sight, and sure of aim, for the buck14 will come bounding toward him with prodigious15 leaps and be gone again in a flash.
Uncle Sam had promised his nephew Dauphin and the Allen boys a deer hunt on the night of the full moon in October, but Rob Allen was impatient. “You needn’t be in such a hurry,” said Dauphin. “You couldn’t hit a deer the first time, anyway. One always has ‘buck-fever’ the first time.”
“You’ll see,” boasted Rob; “I’ll show you that the laugh will not be on me.”
If Rob had been wise, he would have awaited the time set, and acted under the direction of the experienced hunter, but the taunt16 of Dauphin spurred him on to prove his prowess. So the next afternoon he slipped off with his gun in the direction of Round Slough17. Approaching the water from the west he came to a swale where some long-past tornado18 from the southwest had laid the aspen trees in great windrows. The
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breeze from the east brought to Rob the quacking19 of ducks over in the slough, and as he slowly and as quietly as possible, clambered over the fallen tree trunks, he thought, “Well, I can change the buckshot in my gun to a cartridge20 of 4’s, and take home a mess of mallards anyway.”
Then, from the further side of the very windrow of tree trunks upon which he was clambering, there sprang high into the air, and in a mighty21 bound clearing the last barrier of trees, a splendid, eight-pronged buck. For a second Rob stood in open-mouthed wonder, then seizing his gun in one hand he started on a run after the deer, yelling at the top of his voice. There was a flash of the great antlers above the underbrush of the slough, and the deer was gone.
“Well,” said Rob, coming to himself, “I had it, didn’t I! So that is ‘buck fever.’ Why I never once thought of my gun. The boys will have their laugh now.”
Coming out into the open forest, the lad struck into a deer “run” and started for home. He had not gone far when he caught the sound of animals running, coming toward him. Quickly he dodged22 behind a big pine. In a moment two deer burst into sight, the second one carrying a pair of branching antlers. Rob could feel his heart beating like a trip-hammer, but he drew a bead23 upon the antlers, and, just as they passed, fired. The buck dropped, rolled over and over, then lay still.
“Hurrah!” shouted Rob. “I have you now;” and,
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dropping his gun, he ran quickly, drawing his hunting knife. The deer was a four-year-old, and would probably weigh a hundred and fifty pounds. The boy put one foot upon the neck of the fallen animal, when a startling thing occurred. As though the solid earth had risen beneath his feet, Rob felt himself lifted and flung over upon his back on the pine needles as if he had been the merest trifle, and in great leaps and bounds he saw his deer disappearing in the distance.
“Of all things,” gasped24 the lad, “this beats me. If I caught the ‘buck fever’ the first time, I must now have reached the delirious25 stage. Who ever heard of a dead deer acting26 in that way!”
It was now growing dark, and impossible to follow the trail of the deer even had it been seriously wounded, so the lad struck out for home. He had gone perhaps half a mile, and was approaching the open prairie not far from his home, when, in a small swale, to the left of the trail, he heard a snort, then a quick, impatient pawing of a hoof27 like a challenge. Dropping to his knees he waited, and in a moment discovered the gleam of two eyes shining through the darkness. Carefully raising his gun, he fired. Springing straight up into the air, the animal came down with a thud. This time Rob did not throw down his gun, but made ready with the second barrel in case of need, as he cautiously went up to where his quarry28 lay. But the charge had gone true, and a fine, fat yearling, a “spike” buck—his first deer—was a prize to the young hunter.
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The boy’s heart beat proudly as he shouldered his game and bore it home.
With well assumed modesty29 Rob accepted the praises of Dauphin and Ed, but being an honest lad he finally confessed to his attack of “buck fever,” and then related the astonishing action of the second deer.
But Uncle Sam explained it. “You ‘creased’ him,” said he. “Your aim was too high, but one of the buckshot grazed the top of his head and stunned30 him for the time. Probably he was not at all seriously hurt. I saw that trick played many a time when we were crossing the plains to California in an early day. When we were on the llanos of northern and western Texas bands of wild horses would occasionally circle about our wagon32 train. None of the saddle horses were anything like a match for the wild fellows in speed, but the plainsmen had a way of occasionally capturing one of the band. Where the lay of the ground would permit, a picked man would be detailed33 to creep toward the herd until within shooting distance. Selecting the horse that pleased his fancy, he would shoot, not to kill or wound the animal, but to just graze the skin along the top of its head. The trick required the highest skill in marksmanship, but many horses were secured in that way, as the force of the bullet would stun31 the animal for a time and it could be secured with ropes, and finally be broken to service.”
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1
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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2
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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3
horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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6
grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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7
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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8
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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9
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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10
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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11
intersection
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| n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集 | |
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12
detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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13
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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14
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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15
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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16
taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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17
slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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18
tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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19
quacking
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| v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的现在分词 ) | |
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20
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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21
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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22
dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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23
bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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24
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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25
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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26
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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27
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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28
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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29
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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30
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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31
stun
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| vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹 | |
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32
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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