When night came again the young hunters went to sleep by the fire. As it had suddenly grown chilly1, they lay with their feet towards it, such being the usual practice of hunters when sleeping by a fire. When the feet are warm, the remainder of the body can easily be kept so; but, on the contrary, when one’s feet become cold, it is scarcely possible to sleep. They were not troubled with cold, and all three were soon sleeping soundly.
From the necessity of supplying the barbecue every now and then with fresh embers, a large fire had been kept up during the day. It still continued to blaze and crackle in a bright red pile. The meat remained resting upon the saplings, where it had been placed to dry.
No one had thought of keeping watch. When camping out at night, in their hunting expeditions in the swamps of Louisiana, they had not accustomed themselves to this habit, and they did not think of its being necessary here. It is the fear of Indians alone that causes the prairie traveller to keep sentry2 during the live-long night; but our young hunters had much less fear of them than might be supposed. There had been as yet no hostilities3 in this quarter between whites and Indians; besides, Basil knew that he carried a token of friendship should the latter come upon them.
They had not been more than half-an-hour asleep when a growl4 from Marengo awoke them. They all started up into a sitting posture5, and looked anxiously out into the darkness. They could see nothing strange. The great trunks of the trees, with the long silvery moss6 of whitish hue7, were glistening8 in the light of the still blazing fire. All the space between was gloomy and black as ebony. They could hear nothing that sounded strange. There was not a breath of air stirring, so that the trees were still and silent, as if asleep. Only up among their leaves and high tops, the tree-frogs (Hyloidea) and cicadas kept up their continuous music. Amid their numerous and varied9 calls could be distinguished10 the “ll–l–luk” of the tree-toad (Hyla versicolor); and from the aquatic11 plants, that lined the spring close by, came the merry chirrup of the Hylodes gryllus, or “Savanna cricket.” Far up among the leaves of the oaks the little green tree-frog repeated his tinkling12 bell-like note that fell with a pleasant sound upon the ear. But all these were the usual voices of the night—the voices of the southern forest—and they produced no strange impression upon the listening hunters. The call of the Hyla, indeed—loud and oft-repeated as it was—warned them that a rain-storm was near; and the darkness of the sky above confirmed the warning.
But it was not these sounds that had caused Marengo to spring up with such a savage13 growl; and the boys continued attentively14 listening to discover what it could have been.
The dark aisles15 of the forest sparkled with moving lights. The fire-flies were abroad in thousands; and their phosphoric lamps, more than usually luminous16, also betokened17 the approach of a rain-storm.
As the young hunters gazed, other lights attracted their attention, causing them to hold their guns in readiness. These lights were very different from those of the insects. They were low down near the surface of the ground. They were round, of a fiery18 green lustre19, and appeared in motion. Now they remained shining steadily20 for some moments, then they disappeared, but immediately shone out afresh in some other place. There were many of them moving about. They were not fire-flies.
Our hunters knew what they were—they were the eyes of animals—of wild beasts! This they knew, but no more. What sort of animals they might be was a thing about which they were all three ignorant; and this uncertainty21 very naturally filled them with dread22. They might be bears, wolverines, or panthers.
The boys talked in whispers, looking to the locks of their pieces, and preparing themselves for the worst. They were, of course, already seen by the animals, sitting as they did in the light of the fire. Marengo stood by, looking into the darkness, and at intervals23 uttering the growl with which he was accustomed to hail the presence of an enemy.
The shining eyes appeared to multiply. All at once a dog was heard to utter three distinct barks. Was it a dog? No. The long and piteous howl that followed told that the animal was no dog, but a wolf—the barking-wolf (Canis latrans). The moment it had ceased, another took up the strain, and then another and another, until the woods rang on all sides with their hideous24 howls. This did not come from any particular side, but seemed everywhere; and as the boys looked into the dark aisles between the tree-trunks, they could perceive glancing eyes—a perfect circle of them all around!
“Bah!” cried Basil, now breaking silence, “it’s only a pack of prairie-wolves. Who cares for their howling?”
The minds of all were thus set at rest. They had no fear of prairie-wolves; which, though fierce enough when attacking some poor deer or wounded buffalo25, are afraid of anything in the shape of man; and will skulk26 off, whenever they think the latter has any intention to attack them. This, however, is seldom the case, as the prairie hunter does not care to waste a bullet upon them; and they are often permitted to follow, and squat27 themselves unmolested around the hunter’s camp, within reach of his rifle.
The prairie-wolves are much smaller than any other species of wolf found in America. They are not much larger than English terriers, and quite as cunning as the English fox. They can hardly be caught or trapped in any way—though they can be easily run down with horses and dogs. They are of a dull, reddish hue, mixed with a grizzle of white hairs. This is their usual colour, though, like other animals, there are varieties. They have thick bushy tails, black at the tips, and one-third the length of their bodies. They resemble the dogs found among the prairie Indians, of which they are, no doubt, the progenitors28. They are met with throughout all the regions from the Mississippi westward29 to the Pacific, and southward into Mexico. They hunt in packs, like the jackals; and will run down deer, buffaloes30, or any other animals which they think they can master. They dare not attack a buffalo in the herd31, though packs of them always follow a drove of these animals. They wait until some one gets separated—a young calf32, or, perhaps, a decrepit33 old bull—which they fall upon and worry to pieces. They follow all parties of hunters and travellers—taking possession of a camp-ground, the moment its occupants have moved out, and devouring34 every scrap35 of eatables that may have been left behind. They will, even, sometimes steal into the camp by night, and appropriate the very morsel36 which the hunter had designed for his breakfast in the morning. This sometimes leads to a spirit of retaliation37; and the indignant hunter, growing less provident38 of his powder and lead, cracks away until he has laid several of them stretched along the grass.
They are more numerous than any other species of American wolves; and on this account—having so many mouths to feed, and so many stomachs to satisfy—they often suffer from extreme hunger. Then, but not till then, they will eat fruits, roots, and vegetables—in short, anything that may sustain life.
These wolves take their trivial name from their being met with principally on the great prairies of the west—although other species of American wolves are found in the prairie country as well as they. They are sometimes called “barking” wolves; because, as we have noticed, the first two or three notes of their howl resemble the bark of a dog. It ends, however, in a prolonged and disagreeable scream.
“I am glad it is they,” said Lucien, in reply to Basil’s remark. “It is well it is no worse. I was afraid it was our friends, the javalies, who had come to pay us a visit.”
“Bad enough as it is,” said Basil. “We shall now have to keep awake, and guard the meat, or these skulking39 jackals would not leave us an ounce of it by morning.”
“That is true enough,” replied Lucien; “but we need not all watch. You and François go to sleep. I’ll stand sentry.”
“No,” responded Basil. “Go you and François to sleep. Let me keep watch.”
“Brothers,” said François, “I am not a bit sleepy; let me be the sentry. I’ll keep ’em off.”
“No, no,” exclaimed Basil and Lucien, in a breath, “I—I.”
It was finally agreed that Basil should take the watch for a couple of hours or so—until he became sleepy—when he was to awake and be relieved by Lucien; who, in his turn, could arouse François. This being arranged, the two latter wrapped themselves in their blankets and lay down again, while Basil sat alone, now gazing into the fire, and then into the gloomy darkness beyond.
Both Lucien and François, notwithstanding the declaration of the latter, were soon snoring like a brace40 of tops. They had had an early awaking by the bear-scrape of the previous morning; besides, they had been at work all day, and were wearied. This they must have been, to have gone to sleep with such a discordant41 howling around them—enough to have kept an opium-eater awake. Basil was wearied as well as they; and he soon began to feel what a painful thing it is to keep awake when one is sleepy. The eyes of the wolves continued to glare upon him from all sides; but he did not dread them any more, than if they had been so many hares. There appeared to be a very large pack of them though. The odoriferous bear-meat had, no doubt, collected all there were for miles around—in addition to numbers that had been following the trail for days past. As Basil watched them, he saw they were growing bolder, and gradually approaching nearer. At length, some of them came upon the spot, where lay the bones of the bear at some distance out from the fire. These they attacked at once; and through the dim light Basil could see them rushing from all quarters to come in for a share. He could hear the bones cracking under their teeth, and could see them struggling and worrying the skeleton and each other in a moving mass. This soon ended. The bones were scraped clean in a twinkling; and the wolves now left them, and scattered42 over the ground as before.
“Come,” soliloquised Basil, “I must have more light; they may steal a march upon me;” and he rose up and threw several armfuls of wood upon the fire, which soon blazed up again, reflecting the yellow eyes of the wolves in dozens of pairs all around him. This helped to brighten Basil a little, and keep him awake; but he sat down again by the fire, and soon became drowsy43 as before. Every now and then he caught himself nodding; and, each time, as he shook himself awake, he noticed that the wolves had ventured nearer to the bear-meat. He could easily have shot any one of them, and thus drive them off for a time; but he did not wish either to waste his ammunition44, or startle his companions.
As he sat cogitating45 how he would best keep awake, an idea came into his head, which caused him to leap to his feet, as if he intended to execute some purpose.
“I have it now,” said he to himself, placing his rifle against a tree. “I’ll get a good nap yet in spite of these filthy46 yelpers. Strange we didn’t think of the plan before.”
He took up a lasso, and, proceeding47 to the barbecue, which was close by, commenced laying all the pieces of bear-meat on one end of the rope. This did not occupy him long; and, when he had bundled all and looped them securely together, he flung the other end of the lasso over a high branch, until it hung down so that he could reach it. He now pulleyed up the meat—until it was ten feet or more from the ground—and then fastened his rope to a log.
“Now, gentlemen,” muttered he, fancifully addressing the wolves, “you may prowl about and howl till your throats are sore, but you don’t keep me five minutes longer from my rest—that you don’t.”
So saying, he laid himself down, and commenced wrapping himself in his blankets.
“Ha!” he continued, as he caught a glimpse of several of the animals running forward and looking upwards48 at the swinging meat; “Ha! Messieurs Loups, don’t you wish you may get it? Ha! ha! ha! Good night!”
So speaking and laughing, he stretched himself alongside his brothers, and in five minutes’ time was snoring as loudly as either of them.
But Basil, with all his craft, was not so cunning upon the present occasion as he thought himself—not half so cunning as the wolves, whom he believed he had outwitted. The latter, seeing that he had gone to sleep, boldly drew nearer and nearer, until scores of them covered the spot over which hung the meat. Here they ran about, tumbling over each other, and all looking upward. They remained silent, however, lest they might awake the sleepers49. Some sat quietly on their hams with eyes fixed50 on the tempting51 morsel, but not making any effort to get at it, as they knew it was beyond their reach. These were, no doubt, the older and wiser ones. Others kept trying their prowess in lofty leaping; but, although the most active of them could get their noses within a few inches of the meat, it only tantalised them the more. One, however, who seemed the best jumper of the pack, at last succeeded in snatching a small piece that hung lower than the main bunch. He was immediately set upon as soon as he had touched the ground, and chased and worried by the rest, until he was glad to drop the morsel to save himself. His success, however, emboldened52 others to try; and they went on springing upward as before—but to no purpose.
A new idea, however, seemed now to have got into the heads of the older ones; they who up to this time had sat looking on. Several of these ran towards the log, where the lasso was tied; and, seizing the latter in their teeth, commenced gnawing53 it! It did not take them long to accomplish their purpose. In less than two minutes’ time, the heavy mass came down with a dead sound upon the shoulders of one of the pack, causing him to howl fearfully!
Marengo, who had been alert all this time, now growled54 louder than ever; and the combined noises awoke the three sleepers. Basil saw what it was; and, starting up, seized his rifle and ran forward, followed by François and Lucien.
All three dashed in among the wolves, firing their pieces as they ran, and then rushing on them with “clubbed” guns. The animals, of course, took to their heels, and scattered in every direction; but some of them, in their flight, did not fail to carry off choice pieces of the bear-meat. Two were killed by the rifle-bullets; and a third—which François had peppered with shot—was overtaken and worried to death by Marengo.
The meat was soon gathered up; and Basil, who though somewhat chagrined55 was still confident of his plan, once more looped it in the lasso, and pulleyed it up. This time, however, he tied the end of his rope to the high branch of a tree; and as the wolves are not tree-climbers, all felt certain that, cunning as these creatures are, they could not reach it thus secured.
After throwing more wood upon the fire, the three brothers again took to their blankets, expecting that nothing would occur to disturb them before the morning.
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1
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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4
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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6
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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7
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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8
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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9
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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10
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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11
aquatic
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| adj.水生的，水栖的 | |
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tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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15
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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16
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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17
betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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19
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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24
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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skulk
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| v.藏匿；潜行 | |
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squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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28
progenitors
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| n.祖先( progenitor的名词复数 )；先驱；前辈；原本 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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30
buffaloes
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| n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓 | |
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31
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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32
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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33
decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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34
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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35
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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provident
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| adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的 | |
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39
skulking
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
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40
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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41
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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42
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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43
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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44
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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45
cogitating
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| v.认真思考，深思熟虑( cogitate的现在分词 ) | |
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46
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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47
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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48
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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49
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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50
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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51
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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52
emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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54
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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55
chagrined
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| adj.懊恼的，苦恼的v.使懊恼，使懊丧，使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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