The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 224: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

\ ee a | 218 THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDI'S YOUNG CAPTAIN. ee ee ee eee OEE “T could not shout, but heard Fatty cry out with all his lungs. “Fire, count, fire, there’s an immense bear walking towards us.’ ‘“« Where?’ said the Count. 3 ‘“« There,’ said Fatty, pointing towards me, and then ran away towards the camp as fast as his legs would take him. 7 i ‘T had just time to jump behind a tree out of the way when the count fired. i “ His rifle shot glanced against the bearskio, and then throwing it off my shoulder I discovered myself, and was received with loud cheers by all the party. ‘““* Braye lad,’ said the old-{ecount, almost in tears. ‘Hurrah !’ said Caspar, ‘ we-have found him.’ ‘““* But, where’s the bear?’ said Pedro: “JT showed the way back, and we cut off the hams, and returned to the camp. Some of the lads forcing me to ride on their shouldérs. _ “Fatty was not aware of what had happened, and when I got in camp, I found him eating a huge lump of pudding, and telling most wonderful lies to the Mexican teamsters about thé bear fight he had had in the morning. Bes “To cure Master Tony of his boasting I threw the bear skin around me, and muddy anid bloody as I was, suddenly placed myself before him in the dim firelicht. ves a “He dropped his pudding on ‘the instant, and scampered off like mad, shouting and yelling to the great delight of all in the secret, 3 ‘Buttons was wild with joy, and capered about like a half wild young monkey as he always proved to be. : * x * = TS ry = _ “We started again on the following morning, _ and after three or four days hard travelling through _ the parched prairie grass, were all glad when, one morning, we came in siggt of the dense forest bordering the Sans Fernando river. “As our horses, oxen, mules, and men required a few days of rest, Pedro piloted us toa large village in the wilderness, called Las Angalos. “This large village was a half-way place between Mexico andjthe town of Galveston in the United States, ‘The pastures were excellent, the water splendid, and the wild sports of the’ forest’ were more than sufficient for the most enthysiastic hunter. ‘‘ Our lads, and, in fact, all our train, were com- fortably provided for, and camped out in the green forest with tents and fires. ‘“We made up our minds to stay in that part for a week, at least, in order to: strengthen and fatten our horses for the other half) of the long journey, “The Count, Caspar, Hugh. Tracy, and all the rest,, made many friends among the Mexican villagers, and the longer we stayed the more \they seemed to take to us, “ Unable to resist the invigorating air and beauty of a spring-time morning in this lovely Glimate, I often rose with the sun and galloped along the red, sandy roads until my chest expanded, and the blood bounded through my. veins with unwonted power, | “The \dew-moist verdure of field and wood ; the ever-fresh half-wild aspect of its forests, all passed before my delighted, unaccustomed eyes, until an unbidden abandon came over me, “TI laughed in the saddle, and rollicked in. the freshness of the scene, as even my horse, who, with ewishing tail, wide spread nostrils, and steaming flanks, snorted and shook his head, and cantered along the wood-fringed road in juvenile hilarity and freedom. : ‘‘T'he smoking chimneys of huts ; the crowing of cocks, and barking of dogs; the plamtation bell, and the shouts of teams a-field, recurred on every hand, | y iis “Nature seemed to revel in its youth and beauty. i “One thing had particularly struck me. “In my morning rides ab sun-rise; the air was literally darkened with the rapid flight of pigeons, which dontinued for hours. J Theif Yeturn at evening shut out from view the sinking sun, “While watching these immense clouds of pigeons, one fine 1 ing, an old darkie, with a spade over his shoulder, observed my curiosity, and dryly said, kK ““< Dats true, Massa; dere’s no end on ‘emt down these parts, radér hab dem away, do. De Gorn’ll be none de better arter deir yisits—sure! De Lor’ help de crops whar deys goin’; won't be much left, for dey digs up de young shoots, massa, mighty clean-like, and takes de seed.’ a “Some friends informed me that there were im- mense pigeon roosts Some few miles in the interior, and so many stories were told of their vastness, and the. heavy losses occasioned by them, that I deter- mined to have ocular proof ere crediting the marvellous stories heard on every hand, — “Some said they knew of. roosts twenty-five miles long, and ten wide, “ Others went farther than this, until I began to imagine they were dealing in the marvellous, since ‘one would suppose that a forest area of thirty miles by twelve, would more than suffice for all the pigeons in creation. “T resolved to examine the statements, “Towards evening, I saw several of my acquain- tance leaving the village with light waggons, who were going to a roost, and I accompanied them, “ They were bent upon a ‘spree’ I*ecould judge, for all were laughing’and singing, ‘‘And by a frequent gurgling sound, I arrived at the conclusion that plenty of whisky was on board. “The negro teamsters cracked their whips and smoked their pipes, ‘Some walked while others lay stretched in thei straw-bedded waggons, spinning tough ‘yarns! of hunting, &e, “‘There were but few weapons in the party, and those who had them were having occasional shots at the number of squirrels jumping about in ‘all directions, ] “The sun had sunk two or-three hours whén we arrived at the dark, heayy mass of timber consti- tuting the roost. €. “The moon was peeping over the distant forest, giving sufficient light to discern the configuration of the scene of our intended. battue, “The waggons were halted in the hollow of a neighbouring ‘copse, : ‘‘ Approaching the roost, we could distinctly hea a sea-like murmur, and the scarcely audible twitter and flutter of millions of birds in swarms upon its swaying branches, ‘As the moon-beams chanced to play through the less wooded spaces, we could distinctly sée the incon- celvable mass of birds clustered like bees, “A few would occasionally flutter.to a new branch and cause disturbance. | ' “Small trees, crackling here and there, catised occasional commotion, | BIOS } GComicboo