The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mass' George, by George Manville Fenn This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Mass' George A Boy's Adventures in the Old Savannah Author: George Manville Fenn Illustrator: W.T. Smith Release Date: May 4, 2007 [EBook #21320] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MASS' GEORGE *** Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England George Manville Fenn "Mass' George" Chapter One. Interesting? My life? Well, let me see. I suppose some people would call it so, for now I come to think of it I did go through a good deal; what with the fighting with the Spaniards, and the Indians, and the fire, and the floods, and the wild beasts, and such-like adventures. Yes; it never seemed to occur to me before, you know, me—George Bruton, son of Captain Bruton of the King’s army, who went out with the General to help colonise Georgia, as they called the country after his Majesty King George the Second, and went through perils and dangers such as no one but English gentlemen and their brave followers would dare and overcome. You’ll find it all in your histories; how the General had leave to take so many followers, and carve out for themselves land and estates in the beautiful new country. My father was one of the party. He went, for he was sick at heart and despondent. He had married a sweet English lady—my mother—and when I was about six years old she died; and after growing more and more unhappy for a couple of years, his friends told him that if he did not seek active life of some kind, he would die too, and leave me an orphan indeed. That frightened him so that he raised himself up from his despondent state, readily embraced the opportunity offered by the General’s expedition, sold his house in the country to which he had retired on leaving the army, and was going out to the southern part of North America with me only. But Sarah would not hear of parting from me, and begged my father to take her to be my attendant and his servant, just as on the same day Morgan Johns, our gardener, had volunteered to go with his master. Not that he was exactly a gardener, though he was full of gardening knowledge, and was a gardener’s son; for he had been in my father’s company in the old regiment, and when my father left it, followed him down and settled quite into a domestic life. Well, as Morgan Johns volunteered to go with the expedition, and said nothing would suit him better than gardening in a new country, and doing a bit of fighting if it was wanted, and as our Sarah had volunteered too, it fell out quite as a matter of course, that one day as my father was seated in his room writing letters, and making his final preparations for his venturesome journey, and while I was seated there looking at the pictures in a book, Morgan and Sarah came in dressed in their best clothes, and stood both of them looking very red in the face. “Well?” said my father, in the cold, stern way in which he generally spoke then; “what is it?” “Tell him, Sarah,” I heard Morgan whisper, for I had gone up to put my hand in hers. “For shame!” she said; “it’s you who ought.” “Now look you,” said Morgan, who was a Welshman, and spoke very Welshy sometimes, “didn’t you just go and promise to help and obey? And the first thing I tells you to do you kicks.” “I am very busy,” said my father. “If you two want a holiday, say so.” “Holiday, sir? Not us,” said Morgan, in a hesitating way. “We don’t want no holiday, sir, only we felt like as it was our dooty to tell you what—” “To tell me what?” “Yes, sir; seeing as we were going out to a savage country, where you’ve got to do everything yourself before you can have it, and as there’d be no parsons and churches, we thought we’d get it done decent and ’spectable here first.” “My good fellow, what do you mean?” said my father. “Why, what I’ve been telling of you, sir. Sarah says—” “I did not, Morgan, and I shouldn’t have thought of such a thing. It was all your doing.” “Steady in the ranks, my lass. Be fair. I’ll own to half of it, but you know you were just as bad as me.” “I was not, sir, indeed,” cried Sarah, beginning to sob. “He deluded me into it, and almost forced me to say yes.” “Man’s dooty,” said Morgan, dryly. “What!” cried my father, smiling; “have you two gone and been married?” “Stop there, sir, please, begging your pardon,” said Morgan; “I declare to gootness, you couldn’t make a better guess than that.” “I beg your pardon, sir,” said Sarah, who was very red in the face before, but scarlet now; and as I sit down and write all this, as an old man, everything comes back to me as vividly as if it were only yesterday—for though I have forgotten plenty of my later life, all this is as fresh as can be—“I beg your pardon, sir, but as you know all the years I have been in your service, and with my own dear angel of a mistress—Heaven bless her!” “Amen,” said my father, and, stern soldier as he was, I saw the tears stand thick in his eyes, for poor Sarah broke down and began to sob, while Morgan turned his face and began to blow his nose like a trumpet out of tune. “I—I beg your pardon for crying, sir, and it’s very weak, I own,” continued Sarah, after a few minutes’ interval, during which I hurriedly put my arm round her, and she dabbed down and kissed me, leaving my face very wet; “but you know I never meant to be married, but when Morgan comes to me and talks about what I was thinking about—how you and that poor darling motherless boy was to get on in foreign abroad, all amongst wild beasts and savages, and no one to make a drop o’ gruel if you had colds, or to make your beds, or sew on a button, and your poor stockings all in holes big enough to break any decent woman’s heart, and to Master George’s head—” “I can wash my own head well enough now, Sarah,” I said. “Yes, my dear; but I don’t believe you’d do it as well as I could, and you know I never let the soap get in your eyes. And when, sir, Morgan comes to me, and he asks me if I’d got the heart to let you both go out into the wilderness like that without a soul to look after you, and tells me as it was my dooty to marry him, and go out and look after the housekeeping for you both, while he did the garden, what could I say?” Poor Sarah paused quite out of breath. “Say?” said my father, smiling, but looking very much moved. “You could only say yes, like the good, true-hearted woman you are.” “Oh, sir!” exclaimed Sarah. “You have both relieved me of a great deal of care and anxiety by your faithful, friendly conduct,” continued my father, “for it will make what I am going to seek in the wilderness quite a home at once. It is not the wilderness you think, for I know on very good authority that the place where we are going is a very beautiful and fertile country.” “Can’t come up to Wales,” said Morgan, shaking his head. “Perhaps not,” said my father, smiling; “but very beautiful all the same. I ought to warn you both, though, while there is time to draw back, that the land is entirely new.” “What, wasn’t it made with the rest of the world, sir?” said Morgan, staring. “Yes, of course,” said my father; “but I mean it has never been inhabited more than by a few Indians, who passed through it when hunting. No houses; not so much as a road.” “Then there won’t be no taverns, Sarah,” said Morgan, giving her a nudge. “And a very good thing too,” she replied. “So that,” continued my father, “I shall have to help cut down the trees to build my own house, make my own furniture, and fence in the estate—in short, do everything.” “Well, I don’t see nothing to grumble at in that, sir, so long as there’s plenty of wood,” said Morgan. “There’ll be too much wood, my man,” said my father, smiling, “and we shall have to ply the axe hard to clear our way.” “Any stone or slate, sir?” “Plenty of stone, but no slate that I am aware of.” “No,” cried Morgan, triumphantly. “I knew there’d be no slate. That proves as it won’t come up to Wales. There isn’t such a country for slate anywhere as Wales. Well, sir, but even if there’s no slate, we can make shift. First thing we do as soon as we get out, will be for me to rig the missus up a bit of a kitchen, and we shall take a few pots and pans in a box.” “Oh, I shall go well provided with necessaries,” said my father. “Then pray don’t forget a frying-pan, sir. It’s wonderful what the missus here can do with a frying- pan.” “Do be quiet, Morgan Johns,” said Sarah. “Shan’t,” he growled. “I’m a-telling of the truth. It’s wonderful, sir, that it is. Give her a frying-pan and a bit o’ fire, and we shan’t never hurt for a bit o’ well-cooked victuals.” “But—” began my father, when Morgan rushed in again. “Washin’, sir, I forgot all about the washing. We shall want a tub and a line. Trees ’ll do for tying up to, and you’ll see we shall none of us ever want for clean clothes.” “Do be quiet, Morgan.” “I shan’t, Sarah. It’s only fair as the master should know what you can do, look you.” “But I wish you people to think seriously now, while there is yet time,” said my father. “Seriously, sir? Oh yes, we’ve been thinking of it seriously enough, and—I say, missus, do try and do without flat-irons; they’re very heavy kind o’ traps for a man to take in his kit.” “Come, come,” said my father; “you had better think better of it, and not embrace such a rough life.” “We have thought better on it, sir, and the very best too. We’re coming, and if you won’t take us, we’ll come without. And look you, sir, of course you’ll take some guns, and swords, and powder and shot.” “Of course.” “Then don’t forget some tools: spades, and hoes, and seeds, and some carpenter’s things and nails. You can’t think what a deal can be done with a hammer, a saw, and a few nails.” “Then you mean to come?” “Mean to come, sir?” cried Morgan, in astonishment. “W hy we got married o’ purpose; didn’t we, Sarah?” “Oh yes, sir; that’s the very truth.” “And we shall be obliged to go now.” I did not see where the obligation came in, but I supposed it was all right. “Then I can only say thank you heartily,” cried my father, warmly; “and for my part, I’ll do my duty by you both.” “Of course we know that, don’t we, Sarah? Or else we shouldn’t go.” “My dear master!” said Sarah, and she bent forward and kissed his hand before clapping her handkerchief to her eyes, and rushing out of the room. “She’ll be all right, sir, soon,” whispered Morgan. “And look you, I’ll begin getting together all sorts of little tackle, sir, as I think ’ll be useful out yonder. Knives and string, and—look you, Master George, strikes me as a few hooks and lines wouldn’t be amiss. A few good fish in a frying-pan, cooked as Sarah can cook ’em, arn’t to be sneezed at now and then.” He gave us both a sharp nod, and hastily followed his wife, while I stayed to pester my father with endless questions about our new home. Chapter Two. The month which followed was one scene of excitement to me. We went into lodgings in Bristol, and my father seemed to be always busy making purchases, or seeing the different gentlemen who were going out with us in the same ship. I recollect many of their faces. There was the General, a firm, kindly-looking man, who always seemed to me as if he could not possibly be a soldier, he was too quiet. Then there was Colonel Preston, a handsome, florid gentleman, ten years older than my father, and I heard that his wife, two sons and daughter were to be of the party. In a misty kind of way, too, I can recollect that the gentlemen who came and had long talks with my father, used to chat about the plantations in Virginia and Carolina, and about a charter from the King, and that the place we were going to was to be called Georgia, because the King’s name was the same as mine. Then, too, there was a great deal of talk about the enemy; and as I used to sit and listen, I understood that the Spaniards were the enemy, and that they lived in Florida. But every one laughed; and my father, I remember, said gravely— “I do not fear anything that the Spaniards can do to hinder us, gentlemen, I am more disposed to dread the climate.” A great deal that followed has now, at this time of writing, become confused and mixed up; but I can remember the cheering from the wharves as our ship floated away with the tide, people talking about us as adventurers, and that soon after it came on to blow, and my next recollections are of being in a dark cabin lit by a lantern, which swung to and fro, threatening sometimes to hit the smoky ceiling. I did not pay much heed to it though, for I was too ill, and the only consolation I had was that of seeing Sarah’s motherly face by the dim light, and hearing her kindly, comforting words. Then, after a very stormy voyage, we seemed, as I recollect it, to have glided slowly out of winter into summer, and we were off a land of glorious sunshine at the mouth of a river, up which we sailed. I know there was a great deal done afterwards in the way of formal taking possession in the name of the King, and I can recollect being delighted with the show that was made, and at seeing my father and the other gentlemen wearing gay clothes and sashes and plumes, and with swords buckled on. Even Morgan partook of the change, and I well recall how he came to me just before he landed, in a kind of grenadier uniform, with sword and musket and belts, drawing himself up very stiff and proud- looking as he let down the butt-end of his firelock with a loud bang upon the deck. “Do I look all right and soldierly, Master George?” he whispered, after a glance round to see that he was not overheard. “Yes,” I said, “you look fine. Is your gun loaded?” “Not yet, my lad.” “Pull out your sword and let’s look at it.” “By and by, my lad,” he said; “but tell me; I do look all right, don’t I?” “Yes. Why?” “Because Sarah’s got a nasty fit on this mornin’. Don’t tell her I told you; but she said I looked fit to be laughed at, and that there’d be no fighting for me: Indians would all run away.” “Oh, never mind what she says,” I cried. “I wish I was big enough for a soldier.” “Wait a bit, boy, you’ll grow,” he said, as he busily tightened a well-whitened belt. “You see it’s so long since I’ve been soldiering, that I’m a bit out of practice.” There was no enemy, Indian or Spaniard, to oppose us, and before long the land had been roughly surveyed and portioned out, my father, as an officer of good standing, being one of the earliest to choose; and in a very short time we were preparing to go out on the beautiful little estate that had become his, for the most part forest-land, with a patch or two of rich, easily-drained marsh on both sides of a little stream which ran, not far away, into the great river up which we had sailed, and upon which, just below us, was to be formed the new city. Then time glided on, and as I recall everything I can, I have recollections of the gentlemen of the expedition, and common men, soldiers and others, coming with their swords and guns to our place, and all working hard together, after setting sentries and scouts to give warning of danger, and cutting down trees, and using saws, and helping to roughly build a little wooden house, and put up a fence for us. Then, after getting our things in shelter, my father and Morgan joined in helping to build and clear for some one else; and so on, week after week, all working together to begin the settlement, till we were all provided with rough huts and shelters for the valuable stores and ammunition brought out. After which people began to shift for themselves, to try and improve the rough places first built. Chapter Three. W ith a new place, every touch makes a difference; and when some of those touches are given by the hand of a gardener, nature begins to help. It was so at our Georgia home. Every bit of time my father or Morgan could find to spare, they were digging, or trimming, or planting, till Sarah would set to and grumble to me because they would not come in to their meals. “I wouldn’t care, sir,” she would say, “only the supper’s getting spoiled.” “But the home made more beautiful,” replied my father; and then I have heard him say as he glanced through the window at flower and tree flourishing wonderfully in that beautiful climate, “If my poor wife had lived to see all this!” Early and late worked Morgan, battling with the wild vines and beautiful growths that seemed to be always trying to make the garden we were redeeming from the wilderness come back to its former state. But he found time to gratify me, and he would screw up his dry Welsh face and beckon to me sometimes to bring a stick and hunt out squirrel, coon, or some ugly little alligator, which he knew to be hiding under the roots of a tree in some pool. Then, as much to please me as for use, a punt was bought from the owners of a brig which had sailed across from Bristol to make her last voyage, being condemned to breaking up at our infant port. The boat, however, was nearly new, and came into my father’s hands complete, with mast, sail, ropes, and oars; and it was not long before I gained the mastery over all that it was necessary to learn in the management. Morgan’s fishing-tackle came into use, and after a little instruction and help from the Welshman, I began to wage war upon the fish in our stream and in the river, catching, beside, ugly little reptiles of the tortoise or turtle family—strange objects to be hauled up from muddy depths at one end of a line, but some of them very good eating all the same. The little settlement throve as the time went on, and though the Indians were supposed to be threatening, and to look with very little favour upon the settlement so near their hunting-grounds, all remained peaceful, and we had nothing but haughty overbearing words from our Spanish neighbours. To a man the officers and gentlemen who had come out turned their attention to agriculture, and many were the experiments tried, and successfully too. At one estate cotton was growing; at another, where there was a lot of rich low land easily flooded, great crops of rice were raised. Here, as I walked round with my father, we passed broad fields of sugar-cane, and farther on the great crinkled- leaved Indian corn flourished wonderfully, with its flower tassels, and beautiful green and then orange-buff ears of hard, sweet, flinty corn. Then came long talks about the want of more help, and one of the settlers braved public opinion, and every one began to talk about how shocking it was for an English gentleman to purchase slaves. But before many months had passed there was hardly a settler without slave labour, the principal exception being my father. It is hard to paint a picture in words, but I should like those who read this to understand what my home was like when I was about twelve years old, a great strong healthy boy, with cheeks burned brown by the sun. Our place began with one low erection, divided by a rough partition into two—our room and the Morgans’; most of our meals being eaten in the big rustic porch contrived by Morgan in what he called his spare time, and over which ran wildly the most beautiful passion-flower I had ever seen. But then as wood was abundant, and a saw-pit had been erected, a more pretentious one-floored cottage residence was planned to join on to the first building, which before long was entirely devoted to the servants; and we soon had a very charming little home with shingle roof, over which beautiful creepers literally rioted, and hung down in festoons from our windows. Every day seemed to mellow and beautify this place, and the wild garden dotted with lovely cypresses and flowering shrubs, mingled with every kind of fruit-tree that my father and Morgan had been able to get together. Over trellises, and on the house facing south, grape-vines flourished wonderfully. Peaches were soon in abundance, and such fruits familiar to English people at home as would bear the climate filled the garden. My father’s estate extended for a considerable distance, but the greater part remained as it had been tilled by nature, the want of assistance confining his efforts to a comparatively small garden; but he used to say to me, in his quiet, grave way— “We might grow more useful things, George, but we could not make the place more beautiful.” And I often used to think so, as I gazed out of my window at the wild forest, and the openings leading down to the stream and away to the swamp, where I could hear the alligators barking and bellowing at night, with a feeling half dread, half curiosity, and think that some day I should live to see one that I had caught or killed myself, close at hand. Now and then Morgan used to call me to come and see where a ’gator, as he called it, had been in the night, pointing out its track right up to the rough fence of the garden. “You and I’ll have a treat one of these days, my lad.” “Yes,” I used to say; “but when?” “Oh, one of these days when I’m not busy.” “Ah, Morgan,” I used to say, impatiently, “when you’re not busy: when will that be?” “Be? One o’ these days when we’ve cut down all the wood, and turned all that low flat swamp into plantation. You see I’m so busy just now.” “Oh, very well,” I said, “I shall go by myself.” “That you won’t, look you,” he cried. “I heard you promise your father you wouldn’t go alone. You’re not much of a boy, but you’re too good to feed alligators with, or let the rattlesnakes and ’cassins try their pyson on.” “But they wouldn’t, I should take care.” “Take care? Do you know, there’s ’gators big as trees in these swamp-holes. I shouldn’t wonder if there’s some of the old open-countenanced beauties big round as houses. W hy, Master George, I believe there’s fellows out there as old as the river, and as could take you as easy as I do a pill.” “Don’t believe it.” “Ve-ry well then; only mind, if one does take you across the middle, give you a pitch up in the air, and then catch you head-first and swallow you, don’t you blame me.” “Why, how could I, if he swallowed me?” I said. “Oh, I don’t know. You might holler or knock, if you had a stick in your hand.” “What stuff!” “Oh, is it! There’s plenty of room in ’em, and they’re as hard as horn. But you take my advice, and don’t try.” “Well, then, come with me; I know several holes where I think they live.” “How do you know that?” “Because I’ve seen the footmarks leading down to them all plain in the mud.” “Then you’ve been going too far, and don’t you run no risks again.” I walked away discontentedly, as I’d often walked away before, wishing that I had a companion of my own age. Some of the gentlemen settled out there had sons; but they were away, and at times the place seemed very lonely; but I fancy now that was only just before a storm, or when everything felt strange and depressing. At other times I was happy enough. Every morning I had three hours’ good study with my father, who very rarely let me neglect that. Then in the afternoon there was always something to do or something to see and help over. For, as far as my father’s means would allow, he planned and contrived endless things to make our home more attractive and convenient. One week it would be the contriving of rough tree-trunk steps down from the bank to the water’s edge, so that the boat was easily reached, and ringbolts were driven into cut-down trees, which became natural posts for mooring the boat. Another time during one of our walks, he stopped by a lovely pool out toward the swamp—a spot of about an acre and a half in extent, where the trees kept off the wind, and where the morning sun seemed to light up the bottom, showing every pebble and every fish as if seen through crystal glass. “There,” he said, “that will be ten times better than bathing in the river. I always feel a little nervous about you there. This shall be your own private bathing-pool, where you can learn to swim to your heart’s content. That old fallen hickory will do for your dressing-room, and there are places to hang up your clothes. I don’t think you can come to harm here.” Of course I was delighted, and at the same time a little disappointed; for the fact that the pool was perfectly safe took away somewhat from its attractiveness, and I began to think that there was no stream to carry one along; no very deep places to swim over and feel a thrill at the danger; no holes in the banks where an alligator might be smiling pleasantly as he thought how good a boy would be to eat. Chapter Four. I am obliged to run quickly through my early unadventurous days, skipping, as it were, from memory to memory of things which happened before life became serious and terrible for us all at the plantation, and storms and peril followed rapidly after the first pleasant calm. For it seems to me now, as I sit and think, that nothing could have been happier than the life on the river during the first days of the settlement. Of course, everybody had to work hard, but it was in a land of constant sunshine, of endless spring and summer days—cold weather was hardly known—and when a storm came, though the thunder and lightning were terrible and the rain tremendous, everything afterwards seemed to bound into renewed life, and the scent of the virgin forest was delightful. All worked hard, but there was the certain repayment, and in what must have been a very short time, the settlers had raised a delightful home in the wilderness, where all was so dreamy and peaceful that their weapons and military stores seemed an encumbrance, and many felt that they would have done more wisely if they had brought agricultural implements instead. Before we left England, as I have told you, the adventurers who met at my father’s rooms talked of the ruthless savage—the lurking Indian of the forest and prairie, and also of our neighbours the Spaniards; but as soon as we reached the place, it seemed to all that the Indians did not exist; and as to the Spaniards, they were far south, separated by long stretches of open land, forests, river, and swamp, and might, for aught we knew, be at the other side of the world. I was sitting indoors one bright sunny day, and I had just reached finishing distance with a Latin translation my father had left me to do, when I heard a quick “Hist!” Looking up, I saw Morgan at the window. “’Most done?” he said. “Yes.” “Then come along, I’ll show you something.” I bounded out, to find him armed with a stick about six feet long, provided with a little fork at the end made by driving in a couple of nails and bending them out. “What is it?” I cried, excitedly. “Enemy. Get yourself a good stout stick.” “Rake-handle do?” “Yes, capital.” I ran to the tool-shed and came back directly, panting. “Now,” I said, “what enemy is it—an alligator?” “No. You said you didn’t believe there were any snakes here. I’ve got one to show you now.” “Yes; but where?” “Never you mind where. All you’ve got to do is to creep after me silent like; and when you see me pin him down with this fork, you can kill him.” “But what a cowardly way,” I cried; “it isn’t fair.” “Well, look you, I never did see such a boy as you are, Master George. Do you know what sort of a snake it is?” “How should I? You wouldn’t tell me.” “Well, you talk as if it was a little adder, foot and half long, or a snake at home that you might pick up in your hand. Why, it’s a real rattlesnake.” “Oh!” I exclaimed, excitedly. “Over six foot long, and as thick as my wrist.” “Pooh!” I said, with my imagination full of boa-constrictors big enough to entwine and crush us up. “That’s nothing!” “Nothing! Do you know one bite from a fellow like this will kill a man? And you talk about fighting fair. Nice lot of fairness in the way they fight. You come along, and promise to be very careful, or I shan’t go.” “Oh, I’ll be careful,” I said. “But if you feel afraid, say so, and I’ll go alone.” “I don’t feel afraid,” I replied; “and if I did,” I added with a laugh, “I wouldn’t say I was.” “Not you,” he muttered, and he held up a finger, and led the way down by the garden, and from thence into the uncleared forest, where a faint track wandered in and out among the great, tall, pillar-like trunks whose tops shut out the light of day, all but where at intervals what seemed to us like rays of golden dust, or there were silvery-looking lines of finest cobweb stretching from far on high, but which proved to be only delicate threads of sunshine which had pierced the great canopy of leaves. Beyond this I knew that there was an opening where all was warm and glowing that was subdued and gloomy now, and it was not long before I saw, without a doubt, that Morgan was making for this clearing, and in all probability for one of the patches of stony ground that lay full in the sunshine, baked and hot. It was very cool and silent in among the trees, whose great trunks towered up so high, and though we could hear a chirp now and then far above us in the leaves, all was as still as possible, not so much as a beetle or fly breaking the silence with its hum. There was the opening at last, and as we neared it, the tree-trunks stood out like great black columns against the warm golden light. Morgan held up his hand, and for the moment I felt as if we were going to do something very treacherous, till I recalled reading about some one having died twenty minutes after the bite of one of these snakes, and that made me feel more merciless, as I followed my leader, who kept picking his way, so that his feet should not light upon some dead twig which would give forth a snap. The next minute we were out in the sunshine, and here Morgan stopped for me to overtake him, when he placed his lips close to my ear, and whispered— “I’d been over to the bathing-pool to get some o’ that white sand out of the bottom, when as I come back, I see my gentleman coiled up fast asleep. He’s over yonder, just this side of the pine-trees, left of that big sugar-loaf—the light-green one.” He pointed to a tall cone-like cypress, and I felt that I knew the rough, bare, stony place exactly. “Ready?” he whispered again. I nodded. “Then you must walk this time like a cat. Perhaps he’s gone, but he may be fast asleep still.” He made a point with his fork to show me how he meant to fix the reptile to the ground, and I took a good grip of my rake-handle, intending to try and disable the monster by one blow. This part of our journey was much more tedious than the other, for we were now getting close to the spot, and we knew that though sometimes it was possible to walk close by a snake without disturbing it, at other times the slightest sound would send it gliding rapidly out of sight. We approached then in the most stealthy way, Morgan holding his fork the while as if it were a gun, and we were advancing upon the enemy. Low growth had sprung apace about the clearing, so that we could not get a sight of the spot till we were close by, when Morgan softly parted the bush-like growth, peered out, drew back, and signed to me to advance, moving aside the while, so that I could pass him, and peer out in turn. I was not long in availing myself of the opportunity; and there, not a dozen feet from me, lay twisted about, something like a double S, a large specimen of the serpent I had so often heard about; and a curious shrinking sensation came over me, as I noticed its broad flat head, shaped something like an old-fashioned pointed shovel, with the neck quite small behind, but rapidly increasing till the reptile was fully, as Morgan said, thick as his wrist; and then slowly tapering away for a time before rapidly running down to where I could see five curious-looking rings at the end of the dull grey tail. “A rattlesnake,” I said to myself, as with a kind of fascination I eagerly looked at the line which marked the gaping mouth showing plainly in an ugly smile; then at the dull creamy-brown and grey markings, and the scales which covered the skin, here and there looking worn and crumpled, and as if it was a trifle too big for the creature that wore it as if it were a shirt of mail. I should have stood there staring at the repellent-looking creature for long enough, had not Morgan softly drawn me back, and then led the way round to our left, so that we could have the sun behind us, and approach the dangerous reptile without having to rustle through the bushes close at hand. “Mind you keep back, my lad, till I’ve got him safe,” whispered Morgan, “then hit him hard.” “Is it as dangerous as they say?” I asked. “Worse, look you; that’s why I want to pin him first. I might hit him a good crack, but snakes are hard to kill, and he might throw his head about and bite even then, though I arn’t quite sure even now that they don’t sting with their tails.” “I’m sure they don’t,” I whispered back. “Ah, that’s all very well, Master George, but I don’t see as you can know much better than me. Anyhow, I’m going to risk it; so here goes, and when I say ‘now,’ bring down that rake-handle as big a whop as you can with both hands, right on his back.” I nodded, and we stood out now on the barren, stony patch close to the fir-trees, with the sun casting our shadows in a curious dumpy way on the earth, and our enemy about thirty feet away. Morgan signed to me to stand still, and I obeyed trembling with excitement, and eagerly watching as he cautiously approached with his pole extended before him, ready to make a dart at the snake, whose head lay half turned for him, and its neck temptingly exposed, ready for the fork which should hold it down. On went Morgan, inch by inch, his shadow just before him, and in spite of his injunction, I could not refrain from following, so as to get a good view of the encounter; and besides, I argued with myself, how could I be ready to help unless I was close at hand? Consequently I stepped on nearer too, till I could see the reptile quite clearly, distinguishing every scale and noting the dull, fixed look of its eyes, which did not seem to be closed, for I was not familiar then with the organisation of snakes. As Morgan went on the stillness of the clearing seemed terrible, and once more I could not help thinking of what a treacherous act it was to steal upon the creature like that in its sleep. But directly after, the killing instinct toward a dangerous enemy grew strong within me, and I drew in my breath, my teeth were set fast, and my fingers tightened about the rake-handle, ready to deliver a blow. All this took very few minutes, but it seemed to me to last a long time, and thought after thought ran through my mind, each one suggestive of danger. “Suppose Morgan misses it,” I said to myself; “it will be frightened and vicious, and strike at him, and if he is bitten I shall be obliged to attack it then, and I shall not have such a chance as he has, for the head will be darting about in all directions.” Then I began to wish I had gone first, and hit at it as it lay, with all my might. Too late now, I knew; and as I saw in imagination Morgan lying helpless there, and myself striking hard at the snake, never taking into consideration the fact that after a deadly stroke the animal would rapidly try to escape, and glide away. Morgan was now so near that I saw the shadow of his head begin to creep over the snake, and it loomed so black and heavy that I wondered why the reptile did not feel it and wake up. Then I stood fast as if turned to stone, as I watched my companion softly extend the pole he carried, with the fork nearer and nearer the creature’s neck, to remain perfectly motionless for a moment or two. There was a darting motion, and Morgan stood pressing the staff down as the serpent leaped into life, writhing, twining, and snapping its body in waves which ran from head to the tail which quivered in the air, sending forth a peculiar low, dull, rattling noise, and seeming to seek for something about which to curl. “I’ve got him, Master George. Come along now; it’s your turn.” I sprang forward to see that the evil-looking head was held down close to the ground, and that the jaws were gaping, and the eyes bright with a vindictive light, literally glittering in the sun. “Can you hold him?” I said, hoarsely. “Oh, yes; I’ve got him pretty tight. My! See that? He is strong.” For at that moment the snake’s tail struck him, and twined about his left leg; untwined, and seemed to flog at him, quivering in the air the while, but only after writhing horribly, twisting round the pole which pressed it down, and forming itself into a curious moving knot. “I can’t hit at it now,” I said, hoarsely; “it will strike away the pole.” “Yes; don’t hit yet. Wait a bit till he untwissens himself; then give it him sharp, look you.” “You won’t let it go?” I said. “Not a bit of it, my lad. Too fond of Morgan Johns to let him stick his fangs into me. Now you’ve got a chance. No, you haven’t; he’s twisted up tighter than ever. Never mind, wait a bit; there’s no hurry.” “But you are torturing it so,” I cried. “Can’t help it, Master George. If I didn’t, he’d torture me and you too. Well, he does twissen about. Welsh eel’s nothing to him.” For the snake in its rage and pain kept twining about the pole, treating that as the cause of all its suffering. Morgan stood there full of excitement, but though longing to deliver a blow that should paralyse if it did not kill our enemy, I could not get the slightest chance. “Ah, we ought to have had a cut at him before he twined about my pole,” said Morgan, after this had been going on for some minutes; “but it wasn’t your fault; there wasn’t time.” “No,” I said, gloomily, “there was no time. Now then, hold tight.” I made a rapid stroke at the long, lithe body which suddenly untwisted to its full length, but my rake- handle only struck the ground, for the serpent was quicker than I, and it threw itself once more in a series of quivering folds about Morgan’s pole. “Well, he is strong,” cried the latter. “But I have it. I’m getting a bit ’fraid he’ll work quite a hole, and get out, and I’m not at all sure that the nails arn’t giving. Look here, Master George; put your hand in my pocket, and pull out and open my big knife ready for me. Then you shall hold the pole, and I’ll go down and try and cut his head off.” “But will that be safe?” I said. “Hadn’t we better leave go and run away?” “W hat, and leave a customer like this free to hunt about our place? Now you wouldn’t like to do that, I know.” “No; I shouldn’t like to do that,” I said; “but it would be terrible if he got away.” “Well then, out with my knife—quick! I’m beginning to wish we’d left him alone, for it’ll be chizzle for both of us if he do get loose.” I hastily took his knife from his pocket, and opened it. “That’s your style, Master George. Now then, stick it across my mouth, and then take hold just under my hands. You must press it down hard, or he’ll heave himself out, for he’s mighty strong, I can tell you. Got hold?” “Yes,” I said, as I took hold of the pole, keeping my feet as far away as I could from the writhing knot, for fear it should suddenly untwine and embrace my legs. “That’s right, press down hard. Think you can hold him?” “I don’t know; I think so.” “Now, look ye here, my lad, thinking won’t do; you’ve got to hold him, and if you feel as you can’t you must say so. Rattlesnakes arn’t garden wums.” “I’ll try, and I will hold it,” I said. “There you have it, then,” he said, releasing the pole, and leaving it quivering and vibrating in my hands. “Now then, I’m going to wait till he untwines again, and then I’m going to have off his head, if he don’t work it out before. If he do, you’ve got to run as hard as you can: jump right away, my lad, never mind me.” I nodded; I could not speak, and I stood holding down the pole, seeing the snake striving to draw its head back between the little prongs of the fork, and knowing that if it did our position would be terrible. “Now then, hold him tight,” cried Morgan; “I’m going to lay hold and draw him out a bit, so as to get a cut through somewhere.” I did not speak, but pressed down with all my might, feeling my eyes strained as, with a shudder of dread, I saw Morgan stoop and boldly seize hold of the snake. But the touch only seemed to make the great living knot tighten, and after a try Morgan ceased. “No,” he said, “it won’t do. I shall only drag him out, for I’m not at all sure about those nails. I say, my lad, I really do wish we had let him alone, or had a go at him with a gun.” I tried to answer, but no words would come, and I wanted to look hopelessly at Morgan, but I could not take my eyes off the great, grey, writhing knot which was always in motion, heaving and working, now loosening, now tightening up. “Hah!” cried Morgan, suddenly, as once more the horrible creature threw itself out to full length, and he sprang forward to seize the neck just as a wave ran along the body from tail to head; and as I pressed the pole down hard, the head rose like lightning, struck Morgan right in the face, and I saw him fall backward, rolling over and over; while, after writhing on the ground a moment or two, the snake raised its bleeding head, and I saw that it was drawing back to strike. I don’t know how it happened exactly; I only can tell that I felt horribly frightened, starting back as Morgan fell over, and that then, as the snake was preparing to strike, being naturally slow and weak from its efforts, the pole I held in both hands came down heavily, and then again and again, till our enemy lay broken and twisting weakly, its back broken in two places, and the blood flowing from its mouth. Chapter Five. I was brought to myself again by a hearty shout just as I was trying to get rid of a shuddering sensation of fear, and wanting to go to Morgan’s help—asking myself what I ought to do to any one who had been bitten by a rattlesnake. “Brayvo! As they say, Master George. You did give it him well.” “But—Morgan—arn’t you stung—bitten, I mean?” I faltered. “Me? No, my lad. He gave me a flop on the cheek with the back of his head as he shook himself loose, and I didn’t stop to give him another chance. But you did bring that down smart, and no mistake. Let’s look at the end.” He took hold of the pole and examined the place where the two nails had been driven in to form the fork. “Yes,” he said, thoughtfully. “I was beginning to be afraid of that—see here. This nail’s regularly bent down, and it opened the fork out so that when he snapped himself like a cart-whip he shook himself clear. Know better next time. I’ll get a bit of iron or an old pitchfork, and cut the tines down short on purpose for this sort of game, Master George. Ah, would you?” he shouted, as he made a dart for where the snake was feebly writhing itself toward the undergrowth, and catching it by the tail snatched it back to lie all together, writhing slowly. “Wait till I find my knife. Oh, here it is,” he said. “No. Never mind, give me yours. I’ll look afterwards. Dropped it when I rolled over yonder.” I took out my knife and opened it. “Oh, I say, my lad, don’t look so white. Wern’t ’fraid, were you?” “Yes,” I said, huskily. “I could not help being frightened.” “Not you,” said Morgan, roughly; “you wasn’t half frightened, or you wouldn’t have done what you did. Now then, my gentleman, you’re never going to bite and kill any one, so—there—and there!” As he spoke he placed one foot a few inches from the rattlesnake’s head, the creature opening its mouth and making a feeble attempt to bite, but the next moment my keen knife had divided the neck, and Morgan picked up the piece. “Now look ye here, Master George, I shouldn’t wonder if this gentleman’s got two sharp teeth at the top here like an adder has at home. They’re the poison ones, and—yes, what did I tell you?” He laughed as he opened the creature’s wide mouth with the blade of the knife, and drew forward two keen-looking fangs, to show me. “There you are,” he said. “Just like adders’, only theirs is little tiny things just like a sharp bit of glass, and they lay back in the roof of their mouths so that you have to look close to see ’em.” “Throw the horrible poisonous thing away,” I said. “Yes; we’ll pitch it all together in the river. Some big alligator will think it’s a fine worm, and I hope he’ll like it. One moment; I must find my knife.” He threw down the rattlesnake’s head, and then said thoughtfully— “No; let’s take it up to the house, Master George, and let your father see the kind of game he’s got on his property. I’ll show it to my Sarah too, or she won’t believe it was such a big one, or got such poison fangs.” “You’ll have to carry it home,” I said, with a shudder. “No, I shan’t, Master George, and it’s of no use for you to try to make me believe you’re afraid, because I shan’t have it. You killed it, and I’ll twist up a bit o’ grass to make a rope, and you shall carry it home to show master and our Sarah. I can tie it to the end of the pole. Stop a minute; where’s my knife?—must be just here.” He went straight for the low growth and bushes, and began peering about while I stood leaning on the pole and looking down at the slightly heaving form of the serpent, when my attention was taken by a hoarse cry from Morgan. “What’s the matter?” I said, as I saw that he was bending forward staring in among the bushes. He did not reply, and feeling certain that he had found another rattlesnake, I raised the pole once more, and went to where he stood, when my lips parted, and I turned to call for help, but stopped there, for I found myself face to face with a similar object to that which had arrested Morgan. A tall, keen-faced, half-naked Indian stood before me, with his black hair gathered back and tied up so that a few eagle feathers were stuck through it; a necklace or two was about his neck and hanging down upon his breast; a pair of fringed buckskin leggings covered his legs; and he carried a tomahawk in one hand, and a bow in the other. Almost before I could recover from my surprise, I saw that we were completely surrounded, for at least a dozen more were dotted about the clearing. At that moment Morgan seemed to get the better of his start, and backed to where I stood, with the Indian following him in a slow, stately manner. “We’re in for it, Master George,” whispered Morgan. “What shall we do—run?” “It would be of no use to try,” I whispered. “Not a bit, lad, they’d run us down directly. Hold up your head, lad; you arn’t afraid of a rattlesnake, so you needn’t be afraid of these furreners. What are they—Injuns?” “Yes,” I answered; “Red Indians,” though I had never seen one before. “Ah, well, look you, there’s nothing to mind—they arn’t poisonous. I shall ask them what they want. I say, what are they all coming close up to us for?” “I don’t know,” I said, as I made a strong effort not to be afraid, and to keep from thinking about the stories I had heard of the Indians’ cruelty, as the party came forward, evidently at a sign from the man who had faced me, and who wore more feathers than the rest. “I say, Master George,” whispered Morgan again, “hadn’t I better ask ’em what they want?” “It’s of no use. I don’t think they would understand.” “Well,” said Morgan, coughing to clear his throat, “I’m a soldier, and I’ve been in a fight before now, so I know a little about it. We’re surprised, Master George, by the enemy, and without arms. First dooty is to retreat, and you being my officer, you says we can’t.” “I’m sure we can’t,” I said, talking to Morgan, but looking sharply round at the Indians, who all stood gazing at us in the sternest and most immovable way. “Quite right, lad. Madness to talk about running, but I’d give all the wage I’ve got to take dooring the next ten year, look you, to be able to let the master know.” “Shall I call to him?” “Only bring him up to be took prisoner too. Here, let’s make the best of it,” cried Morgan, jauntily. “How are you, gentlemen?—strangers in these parts, arn’t you?” The only man to take any notice of this easy-going address was the Indian I imagined to be the chief, and he uttered a grunt. “Ah, I thought so. Nice country isn’t it, only we’ve got some ugly customers here.—Sure they can’t understand, Master George?” “I feel nearly sure.” “So do I, lad.—Ugly customers, snakes—see?—snakes.” He took the pole quickly from my hand, and at the same moment I saw, as it were, a shock run through the group of Indians, each man taking tightly hold of the tomahawk he carried. But Morgan did not notice it, and thrusting the end of the pole under the snake, he raised it up. “See?” he cried. “We just killed it—no, we didn’t, for it isn’t quite dead.” The Indians looked at him and then at the snake, but in the most stolid way, and I stood wondering what was to come next. “Know what it is, I suppose?” continued Morgan, who kept on talking in an excited way, as if to gain time while he tried to think out some plan, as was really the case; but the audience merely looked on frowningly, and I saw the chief draw back slightly as Morgan picked up the head and pointed to its fangs with his finger. The thoughts of the risk he might be running made me forget for the moment any that was threatening us from the Indians, and I cried, in warning tones— “Be careful; it may be dangerous though it’s dead.” “Yes; this seems to be dead,” replied Morgan; “but I say, Master George, I don’t know whatever to do.” “Scrape a hole first, and bury that horrid thing,” I said; “and the...