I dare say you have heard of the hunter and sportsman's saint and
protector, Saint Hubert, and of the noble stag which appeared to him in
the forest, with the holy cross between his antlers. I have paid my
homage to that saint every year in good fellowship, and seen this stag a
thousand times either painted in churches, or embroidered in the stars
of his knights; so that, upon the honor and conscience of a good
sportsman, I hardly know whether there may not have been formerly, or
whether there are not such crossed stags even at this present day. But
let me rather tell what I have seen myself. Having one day spent all my
shot, I found myself unexpectedly in presence of a stately stag, looking
at me as unconcernedly as if he had known of my empty pouches. I charged
immediately with powder, and upon it a good handful of cherrystones, for
I had sucked the fruit as far as the hurry would permit. Thus I let fly
at him, and hit him just on the middle of the forehead between his
antlers; it stunned him--he staggered--yet he made off. A year or two
after, being with a party in the same forest, I beheld a noble stag with
a fine full-grown cherry tree above ten feet high between his antlers. I
immediately recollected my former adventure, looked upon him as my
property, and brought him to the ground by one shot, which at once gave
me the haunch and cherry sauce; for the tree was covered with the
richest fruit, the like I had never tasted before. Who knows but some
passionate holy sportsman, or sporting abbot or bishop may have shot,
planted and fixed the cross between the antlers of Saint Hubert's stag,
in a manner similar to this?
[Illustration: I BEHELD A NOBLE STAG]
V
I remember with pleasure and tenderness a superb Lithuanian horse, which
no money could have bought. He became mine by an accident, which gave me
an opportunity of showing my horsemanship to a great advantage. I was at
Count Przobossky's noble country seat in Lithuania, and remained with
the ladies at tea in the drawing-room, while the gentlemen were down in
the yard to see a young horse of blood which had just arrived from the
stud. We suddenly heard a noise of distress; I hastened downstairs, and
found the horse so unruly that nobody durst approach or mount him. The
most resolute horsemen stood dismayed and aghast; despondency was
expressed in every countenance, when, in one leap, I was on his back,
took him by surprise, and worked him quite into gentleness and
obedience, with the best display of horsemanship I was master of. Fully
to show this to the ladies, and save them unnecessary trouble, I forced
him to leap in at one of the open windows of the tea room, walk round
several times, pace, trot, and gallop, and at last made him mount the
tea table, there to repeat his lessons in a pretty style of miniature
which was exceedingly pleasing to the ladies, for he performed them
amazingly well, and did not break either cup or saucer. It placed me so
high in their opinion, and so well in that of the noble lord, that, with
his usual politeness, he begged I would accept of this young horse, and
ride him to conquest and honor in the campaign against the Turks, which
was soon to be opened, under the command of Count Munich.
We had very hot work once in the van of the army, when we drove the
Turks into Oczakow. My spirited Lithuanian had almost brought me into a
scrape: I had an advanced forepost, and saw the enemy coming against me
in a cloud of dust, which left me rather uncertain about their actual
numbers and real intentions: to wrap myself up in a similar cloud was
common prudence, but would not have much advanced my knowledge, or
answered the end for which I had been sent out; therefore I let my
flankers on both wings spread to the right and left, and make what dust
they could, and I myself led on straight upon the enemy, to have a
nearer sight of them; in this I was gratified, for they stood and
fought, till, for fear of my flankers, they began to move off rather
disorderly. This was the moment to fall upon them with spirit; we broke
them entirely--made a terrible havoc amongst them, and drove them not
only back to a walled town in their rear, but even through it, contrary
to our most sanguine expectation.
The swiftness of my Lithuanian enabled me to be foremost in the pursuit;
and seeing the enemy fairly flying through the opposite gate, I thought
it would be prudent to stop in the market place, to order the men to
rendezvous. I stopped, gentlemen; but judge of my astonishment when in
this market place I saw not one of my hussars about me! Are they
scouring the other streets? or what is become of them? They could not be
far off, and must, at all events, soon join me. In that expectation I
walked my panting Lithuanian to a spring in this market place, and let
him drink. He drank uncommonly, with an eagerness not to be satisfied,
but natural enough; for when I looked round for my men, what should I
see, gentlemen! the hind part of the poor creature--croup and legs--were
missing, as if he had been cut in two, and the water ran out as it came
in, without refreshing or doing him any good! How it could have happened
was quite a mystery to me, till I returned with him to the town gate.
There I saw that when I rushed in pell-mell with the flying enemy, they
had dropped the portcullis (a heavy falling door, with sharp spikes at
the bottom, let down suddenly to prevent the entrance of an enemy into a
fortified town) unperceived by me, which had totally cut off his hind
part, that still lay quivering on the outside of the gate. It would have
been an irreparable loss, had not our farrier contrived to bring both
parts together while hot. He sewed them up with sprigs and young shoots
of laurels that were at hand; the wound healed, and, what could not have
happened but to so glorious a horse, the sprigs took root in his body,
grew up, and formed a bower over me; so that afterwards I could go upon
many other expeditions in the shade of my own and my horse's laurels.
[Illustration: THE HIND PART OF THE POOR CREATURE WAS MISSING]