When night came again the young hunters went to sleep by the fire. As
it had suddenly grown chilly, 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 sentry 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 hostilities 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 growl from
Marengo awoke them. They all started up into a sitting posture, and
looked anxiously out into the darkness. They could see nothing strange.
The great trunks of the trees, with the long silvery moss of whitish
hue, were glistening 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 varied calls could be
distinguished the "ll-l-luk" of the tree-toad (_Hyla versicolor_); and
from the aquatic 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 tinkling
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 savage growl; and the boys continued attentively listening to
discover what it could have been.
The dark aisles of the forest sparkled with moving lights. The
fire-flies were abroad in thousands; and their phosphoric lamps, more
than usually luminous, also betokened 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 fiery green lustre, and
appeared in motion. Now they remained shining steadily 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
uncertainty very naturally filled them with dread. 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 intervals 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 hideous 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 buffalo, are afraid of anything in the shape of man; and
will skulk 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 squat 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 progenitors. They are met
with throughout all the regions from the Mississippi westward to the
Pacific, and southward into Mexico. They hunt in packs, like the
jackals; and will run down deer, buffaloes, or any other animals which
they think they can master. They dare not attack a buffalo in the herd,
though packs of them always follow a drove of these animals. They wait
until some one gets separated--a young calf, or, perhaps, a decrepit 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 devouring every scrap of
eatables that may have been left behind. They will, even, sometimes
steal into the camp by night, and appropriate the very morsel which the
hunter had designed for his breakfast in the morning. This sometimes
leads to a spirit of retaliation; and the indignant hunter, growing less
provident 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 skulking 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 Francois go to sleep. I'll stand sentry."
"No," responded Basil. "Go _you_ and Francois to sleep. Let me keep
watch."
"Brothers," said Francois, "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 Francois. 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 Francois, notwithstanding the declaration of the latter,
were soon snoring like a brace 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 discordant 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 scattered 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 drowsy 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 ammunition, or startle his companions.
As he sat cogitating 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 filthy yelpers. Strange we
didn't think of the plan before."
He took up a lasso, and, proceeding 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 upwards 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 sleepers. Some sat quietly on their hams with eyes
fixed on the tempting 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, emboldened 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 gnawing 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 growled 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
Francois 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
Francois had peppered with shot--was overtaken and worried to death by
Marengo.
The meat was soon gathered up; and Basil, who though somewhat chagrined
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.