登陆注册
5247100000034

第34章 CHAPTER VIII(5)

"We won't have venison steak off him, that's certain,"remarked Dale, dryly. "An' maybe none off any deer, if Roy does the shootin'."They resumed travel, sheering off to the right and keeping to the edge of the intersecting canuon. At length they rode down to the bottom, where a tiny brook babbled through willows, and they followed this for a mile or so down to where it flowed into the larger stream. A dim trail overgrown with grass showed at this point.

"Here's where we part," said Dale. "You'll beat me into my camp, but I'll get there sometime after dark.""Hey, Milt, I forgot about thet darned pet cougar of yours an' the rest of your menagerie. Reckon they won't scare the girls? Especially old Tom?""You won't see Tom till I get home," replied Dale.

"Ain't he corralled or tied up?"

"No. He has the run of the place."

"Wal, good-by, then, an' rustle along."

Dale nodded to the girls, and, turning his horse, he drove the pack-train before him up the open space between the stream and the wooded slope.

Roy stepped off his horse with that single action which appeared such a feat to Helen.

"Guess I'd better cinch up," he said, as he threw a stirrup up over the pommel of his saddle. "You girls are goin' to see wild country.""Who's old Tom?" queried Bo, curiously.

"Why, he's Milt's pet cougar."

"Cougar? That's a panther -- a mountain-lion, didn't he say?""Shore is. Tom is a beauty. An' if he takes a likin' to you he'll love you, play with you, maul you half to death."Bo was all eyes.

"Dale has other pets, too?" she questioned, eagerly.

"I never was up to his camp but what it was overrun with birds an' squirrels an' vermin of all kinds, as tame as tame as cows. Too darn tame, Milt says. But I can't figger thet.

You girls will never want to leave thet senaca of his.""What's a senaca?" asked Helen, as she shifted her foot to let him tighten the cinches on her saddle.

"Thet's Mexican for park, I guess," he replied. "These mountains are full of parks; an', say, I don't ever want to see no prettier place till I get to heaven. . . . There, Ranger, old boy, thet's tight."He slapped the horse affectionately, and, turning to his own, he stepped and swung his long length up.

"It ain't deep crossin' here. Come on," he called, and spurred his bay.

The stream here was wide and it looked deep, but turned out to be deceptive.

"Wal, girls, here beginneth the second lesson," he drawled, cheerily. "Ride one behind the other -- stick close to me --do what I do -- an' holler when you want to rest or if somethin' goes bad."With that he spurred into the thicket. Bo went next and Helen followed. The willows dragged at her so hard that she was unable to watch Roy, and the result was that a low-sweeping branch of a tree knocked her hard on the head.

It hurt and startled her, and roused her mettle. Roy was keeping to the easy trot that covered ground so well, and he led up a slope to the open pine forest. Here the ride for several miles was straight, level, and open. Helen liked the forest to-day. It was brown and green, with patches of gold where the sun struck. She saw her first bird -- big blue grouse that whirred up from under her horse, and little checkered gray quail that appeared awkward on the wing.

Several times Roy pointed out deer flashing gray across some forest aisle, and often when he pointed Helen was not quick enough to see.

Helen realized that this ride would make up for the hideous one of yesterday. So far she had been only barely conscious of sore places and aching bones. These she would bear with.

She loved the wild and the beautiful, both of which increased manifestly with every mile. The sun was warm, the air fragrant and cool, the sky blue as azure and so deep that she imagined that she could look far up into it.

Suddenly Roy reined in so sharply that he pulled the bay up short.

"Look!" he called, sharply.

Bo screamed.

"Not thet way! Here! Aw, he's gone!"

"Nell! It was a bear! I saw it! Oh! not like circus bears at all!" cried Bo.

Helen had missed her opportunity.

"Reckon he was a grizzly, an' I'm jest as well pleased thet he loped off," said Roy. Altering his course somewhat, he led to an old rotten log that the bear had been digging in.

"After grubs. There, see his track. He was a whopper shore enough."They rode on, out to a high point that overlooked canuon and range, gorge and ridge, green and black as far as Helen could see. The ranges were bold and long, climbing to the central uplift, where a number of fringed peaks raised their heads to the vast bare dome of Old Baldy. Far as vision could see, to the right lay one rolling forest of pine, beautiful and serene. Somewhere down beyond must have lain the desert, but it was not in sight.

"I see turkeys 'way down there," said Roy, backing away.

"We'll go down and around an' mebbe I'll get a shot."Descent beyond a rocky point was made through thick brush.

This slope consisted of wide benches covered with copses and scattered pines and many oaks. Helen was delighted to see the familiar trees, although these were different from Missouri oaks. Rugged and gnarled, but not tall, these trees spread wide branches, the leaves of which were yellowing.

Roy led into a grassy glade, and, leaping off his horse, rifle in hand, he prepared to shoot at something. Again Bo cried out, but this time it was in delight. Then Helen saw an immense flock of turkeys, apparently like the turkeys she knew at home, but these had bronze and checks of white, and they looked wild. There must have been a hundred in the flock, most of them hens. A few gobblers on the far side began the flight, running swiftly off. Helen plainly heard the thud of their feet. Roy shot once -- twice -- three times. Then rose a great commotion. and thumping, and a loud roar of many wings. Dust and leaves whirling in the air were left where the turkeys had been.

同类推荐
  • 临证指南医案

    临证指南医案

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 卢乡公牍

    卢乡公牍

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 襄阳守城录

    襄阳守城录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 玄天上帝说报父母恩重经

    玄天上帝说报父母恩重经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 维摩经疏

    维摩经疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • Ride The Nightmare

    Ride The Nightmare

    At 32, Chris Martin lives a conventional life. He's married with a daughter, runs his own small business, and is working to save up money for a bigger home with his wife, Helen. He is happy and content with this staid but comfortable existence—until a late weeknight phone call turns everything upside down.Chris hasn't always been the model family man he appears to be. And when his past catches up to him, the terror comes into his home—just where he thought he was safest. As Chris finds all that he loves under attack, he must go to heroic lengths to keep his family and his life together.
  • 小公主

    小公主

    是一部灰姑娘式的儿童小说,写的是19世纪的故事。既刻画了心地善良、不怕困苦的萨拉,使人对她又是同情又是佩服,又对明卿女士那种势利小人作了淋漓尽致的讽刺。
  • 盛世婚宠:帝少的冷心女王

    盛世婚宠:帝少的冷心女王

    他是她青梅竹马的小哥哥,他宠她,她是他的唯一更是他的所有。但是,当他摇身一变,变成D市权势滔天的商界帝王,冷漠、无情、霸道成了他的形容词,她再也不是那个特殊的存在了。在彻底绝望之前她立志要拿下他,哪怕他一次又一次的伤害她,令她失望,她也要嫁给他,因为她爱他。但当失望攒成绝望时,她瞒着所有人离开了。离开前她给了他最后一次机会,她问“你是不是不会娶我?”“是”。三年后,天才少女,商界奇女............成为了她独有的代名词。当傻白甜变身成为女强人,再次相遇的他们又会有怎样的故事呢?
  • 勇者起源

    勇者起源

    小酒喝着,小曲哼着,小妞泡着……在这不知是游戏还是现实的异界,华远以为能过上这样没羞没躁的生活。一个突如其来的“任务”,让他的生活过得比理想还要声色犬马。
  • 超级位面商城

    超级位面商城

    重生平行世界,发展华夏的军工科技,为成为全宇宙最大的军火帝国而努力。QQ群:523304758
  • 雷皇

    雷皇

    一场突变改变了他的命运,让他走上修真的道路。艺成下山,携神剑雷羽,御天罚奇兽走过白山黑水,游遍云峦仙境。他不再是寒烟渡那个懵懂的少年,而是正道中的天纵奇资。天地浩劫,魔乱大地,一条坎坷的修真之路,但到最后结果会是什么呢?佛法道决,邪道妖人,法宝凶兽都难脱雷煌天罚。到底孰对孰错,到底谁正谁邪。天理循环,报应不爽,回首时误天下苍生,救天下苍生……
  • 李希凡文集(第一卷):中国古典小说论丛

    李希凡文集(第一卷):中国古典小说论丛

    本书稿为《李希凡文集》(七卷本)之一种,收录作者论四大古典名著——《水浒传》、《三国演义》、《西游记》、《红楼梦》等的评论文章41篇,为读者认识与了解中国古典四大名著提供了一种新的视角与途径。全书具有充沛的史料价值和文学价值,论证严密、观点中肯,风格厚重大气。
  • 宇宙起源之人类崛起

    宇宙起源之人类崛起

    借用宇宙这么一个上千亿光年宏观的世界来折射出我们整个人类的价值。著名的物理学家《霍金》用那么一句名言‘我们从何而来,又为何在此。’于是我就这两个深奥而又古老的问题来设计我们人类在宇宙中有着特殊独到之处,才能体现出人类的价值。两个原本是最好的兄弟,却因种种原因,成为彼此间最大宿敌。一个踩着无数宇宙生灵的累累白骨之上,一马平川、畅通无阻,最好成为宇宙中一方霸主。一个他命运多舛、道路崎岖,父母的遗弃、同门的陷害、挚爱的绝情、兄弟的背叛。但是他不屈服命运安排,他在毁灭中诞生,在破败中崛起,最后终于成为宇宙中的王者巅峰。但是就在这个时候他却幡然悔悟,甘愿放下自己所拥有的一切,用他的元神幻化成一颗小小的行星躺落在宇宙中的某一个角落里来守护他的孩子,他这一守护就守护了四十多亿年。不错,他所幻化成的行星就是我们如今的地球。而他所要守护的孩子正是我们人类。恐龙的诞生与灭绝、水、空气、阳光,包括我们的地球,等一切有利于生命诞生的条件的出现,其实这一切的一切都是在为我们人类的诞生而铺平道路。因为我们人类赋予着伟大的使命,这种使命必将颠覆整个宇宙未来的格局。
  • 论语日记(全2册)

    论语日记(全2册)

    《论语日记(全2册)》以日记的形式把《论语》二十篇作别开生面的解读,如道家长里短般向读者娓娓道来。作者注重对《论语》每一个重点字词和句子的详细解读,且汇集历代儒学名家的不同解构形式,让读者可以从不同角度梳理《论语》所反映的内涵。同时,作者还深挖《论语》中每一个字的来源及引申义,让读者可以了解汉字的由来和该字的微言大义。《论语日记(全2册)》在阐述《论语》文本所包含的深意时,还结合经典佐证,以及史料、文献、文学资料进行侧面的阐述和对比,读者从中得到的不仅是视野的扩增,更重要的是知识的累积和智慧的提升。总之,《论语日记(全2册)》堪称一本阅读《论语》的工具书。
  • 创业板炒股一点通

    创业板炒股一点通

    中小投资者获利创业板实战技巧全书,分享创业板“盛宴”的实操读本。尝新也需理性,操作更需指导,跟风要靠技巧,赚钱讲究策略。带你揭开创业板神秘面纱,教你如何一打就中,让投资少些盲目、多点理性,投资不投机。