Pawnbroking

“ The space between the mountains and the river, on each side of the village, was thickly planted with close ranks of prickly pear, impassable to man or beast, so that the only way in which the Pawnees could be attacked was in front, by forcing a passage across the river, which could not be effected without a great loss of life, as the Pawnees are a brave people and well supplied with rifles, although in their prairie hunts they prefer to use their lances and their arrows. ”

“ Forcing the ponies to a killing pace, they began to gain upon their foes. Stride by stride they overcame the lead of the Pawnees until the latter were barely two arrow flights away. Then the Pawnees lashed the ponies into a furious sprint, and held off their pursuers. The wild race across the plain became a test of endurance between the rival ponies. Both companies of riders knew that the gallant little beasts must eventually collapse, but each hoped that their foes would be the first to weaken. ”

“ With their hands and feet they made a slight wind-break, dragging the struggling ponies into its protection, and burrowed themselves there, the clouds of sand skurrying over them so thick as to obscure the sky, and rapidly burying them altogether as though in a grave. Within an hour they were compelled to dig themselves out, yet it proved partial escape from the pitiless lashing. The wind howled like unloosed demons, and the air grew cold, adding to the sting of the grit, when some sudden eddy hurled it into their hiding place. ”

“ In the next, she had vanished over the nearest bushes with such a leap as she had [118] never before achieved. The female might have sprung upon her neck almost without effort. But she never even raised a paw against this easy quarry; it was a higher hunting that now engrossed her.
When at length the two running beasts came to the edge of the open ground on the slopes of Broken Ridge, they hesitated. The female, though the more deadly in the persistence of her hate, was at the same time the more sagacious. First of all, she wanted to recover her cubs. ”

“ They had driven the captured ponies from the timber, and were herding them upon the open plain. Less than a third of the company guarded them. The rest of the Pawnees were watching along the bank of the stream.
"Perhaps those warriors will try to hold us back while their friends get away with the ponies," Red Dog declared, suspiciously.
"I believe that is what they propose to do," said Black Moccasin.
"No, I do not believe it," White Otter told them. "Those ponies have come a long ways. They have run fast. The Pawnees will let them rest. ”

“ It was at this time of the year that the chief damage appeared to have been done to the game on the estate.
No amount of winter poaching can cause such havoc in a preserve, as that arising from the destruction, or abstraction, of the eggs. A farmer’s boy may do greater damage in one day than the most incorrigible gang of poachers in a month, with all their nets, traps, guns, and other appliances to boot. ”

“ The men, taken by surprise, lost control of the reins, which fell down on the pony and made matters worse, for he fairly flew along the road until he reached a point where it turned over a canal bridge. Here the trap came in contact with the battlement of the bridge, causing the pony to fall down, and the two men fell on top of him. Fortunately this saved them from being seriously injured, but the pony was bruised, and one of the shafts of the trap broken, while the kegs rolled down the embankment into the canal. ”

“ The ground was just as slippery as glass, and so uneven that when on foot we were continually falling, and when on horseback were in dread of being thrown and of having our horses fall upon us, as had already happened in one case on the trip. To stagger and slip, wrenching fetlocks and pasterns, was a strain to which no animals could be subjected for much time without receiving grave injuries. ”

“ And let cub-hunting be cub-hunting; keep your hounds on the dark as much as possible, and never try to have a run across the open. No man can ride to the hounds, in the Midlands at anyrate, while the leaf is on the hedges, consequently fences get pulled about, gaps are made, the farmers’ stock, especially the grass bullocks, injured, and altogether much more damage done by a few horsemen than is done by many in regular hunting. In dry, hard weather the hounds’ feet get injured, and in any weather at all they run a risk of being spoilt. ”

“ Why do you ask?"
"Is the great chief of the Blackfeet with you?"
"Gray Eagle, the Blackfoot chief, is the prisoner of Red Pine," he answered. "But who are you that asks?"
"I am White Wolf, the great chief of the Pawnees, and I want your prisoner!"
The mention of the name, Pawnee, struck a chill to the heart of Red Pine; for it is a fact that nearly all the western Indians stand in wholesome fear of them, and would as soon meet a spirit of evil as a Pawnee. ”

“ As some readers may be aware, the heather is systematically fired, usually in spring, so that a supply of tender shoots from the resprouting ling may be furnished as food for the Grouse. Great judgment and care are required, or vast tracts of cover may be ruined for years. We have known farmers so destroy many acres of valuable Grouse cover purely to secure pasturage for sheep. ”

“ Then, indeed, the Pawnees made a great killing of their enemies. Many an old man, whose feeble legs had long refused to bear him on the warpath, again quavered his war cry, again counted coup upon his enemy. Many a boy, who had never shed the blood of any creature larger than a prairie chicken, that day struck his enemy, and with shrill childish voice shouted his whoop of triumph, as he tore away the reeking scalp. ”

“ You don't always need to rig an advantage in a deadly game of skill and cunning. Chance, blind luck, may sometimes provide a loaded, dangerously destructive pawn."
He nodded, conviction strong in his voice. "The pawn's loaded and they're making it more destructive by a deliberate assault on our minds. They're hoping these skeletons will slow us up, demoralize us just enough to make us easy victims when that insect comes in here after us. If it's following our scent, it won't waste any time."
Janice shuddered and looked at him, fear rising in her eyes again. ”

“ Now we will go ahead, and find out about this thing."
"My brother, I believe that what you say is true," replied Little Raven. "If your people have chased away all those Pawnees they have done a great thing. Pretty soon we will know about it. But when our people come here, then we must go on to fight the boastful Wolf People. Yes, I believe I will count many coups, and take some good ponies."
"Yes, the Pawnees are going away," declared High Eagle. "But it has been a great battle. I believe many of our brothers have been killed. ”

“ About a dozen of the rangers, as soon as they could saddle their horses, dashed off in the direction in which the Pawnees were said to have attacked the hunters. It was now determined, in case our camp should be assailed, to put our horses in the ravine in the rear, where they would be out of danger from arrow or rifle-ball, and to take our stand within the edge of the ravine. This would serve as a trench, and the trees and thickets with which it was bordered, would be sufficient to turn aside any shaft of the enemy. The Pawnees, besides, are wary of attacking any covert of the kind ”

“ Charles Payne, the huntsman of the Pytchley, was much damaged by being thrown out of a gig; while, a short time ago, his head whip, who had fearlessly crossed almost every fence in Northamptonshire, dislocated his shoulder by slipping off a little deal table. The gallant master of the Tedworth hounds was severely injured in his conservatory; the huntsman of the Surrey fox-hounds171 within his house by a fall. Lastly, it may truly be asserted, that, in hunting, more accidents occur from over caution in riders than from a combination of boldness and judgment ”

“ Following the falling of the timber, the trimmers begin their work. Starting at the base end of the tree, one on each side, they walk up the sides of the fallen monarch of the forest, and trim the branches off as far as they are able. Many of the branches on the under side of the tree are broken in the fall, others are only splintered and many of them are just bent. A dozen men then seize their peavy sticks, as they are called in Maine, or cant dogs in some other places where lumbering is done, and roll the tree over. ”

“ Brock is from Anglo-Saxon broc, brece, to break forth—the place where the water first breaks through the earth—hence brook, literally water running through the earth. A brock is a little hollow a few feet wide, formed by water breaking through the ground, and washing out a miniature valley. The moors of Weardale and surrounding district abound with these broken places, which are mostly known to shepherds and game-shooters. They exist on the top of the fells, where they are the only natural shelters. Platey Brock, on Chapel Fell, receives its name from an exposed plate or shale bed. ”

“ The bear settled to all fours again, and reached out a cautious paw and felt along the path, its claws gouging seams in the ice. Assured that the footing would hold, it crept out on the narrow way, nearer and nearer to the motionless man. Scarce a yard from him it squatted. The steam of its breath beat toward him.
It raised one armed paw to strike. The girl cried out in terror and raised the rifle. The man moved, and she hesitated.
Down came the terrible paw, its curved claws projected and compressed for the blow. It struck only the adamantine ice of the pathway, splintering it. ”

“ Having shewn that they not only live in Winter, but asserted that to be the best Season for their total Destruction, I must further observe, that few People caring to trouble themselves about Buggs but when they themselves are troubled by them, [31] having confin’d the Attempts for their Destruction chiefly to the Breeding-Season, has been the sole Reason why the best Efforts for their Destruction have fail’d. ”

“ The cane brake had, without doubt, been visited by an elephant. That great animal alone could have left such traces and committed such fearful ravages. Thick posts in the barricade were snapped across like reeds; the trees in the vicinity, where we planned to build a cool summer-house, were stripped of leaves and branches to a great height, but the worst mischief was done among the young sugar-cane plants, which were all either devoured or trampled down and destroyed. ”

“ In ancient times the Pawnees had no horses and went hunting on foot. Arrow heads were made of flint or deer horns. Until a recent date, the old stone arrow heads were believed to have supernatural power. White traders introduced those made of iron. The warriors were skillful marksmen and the bow and arrow remained the favorite weapon as long as there were buffaloes to kill. The endurance of the Pawnees, when hunting, was remarkable. In the first place, scouts were sent out to look up a herd. Having discovered one, they returned with information regarding its location. ”

“ Their weapons sent a rattling fire in the direction of the fleeing broncho.
"Halt! Will you halt!"
The pony still plunged on.
"Once more!"
The men fired again, two rounds each.
This time they heard the pony plunge crashing to the ground. His rapid course had come to a sudden end.
The pursuers set up a yell of triumph.
"He's down! He's down! We've got him!"
"Give him another one!"
To make sure that their man should not escape they fired their weapons again. ”

“ This done, we chained it to a four-foot log of green spruce, and left it near the spot where the bear had killed the sheep. For a bait, we laid partially under it a sheep's head, from a sheep that had lately been slaughtered by Mr. Wilber.
"Perhaps some of the boys may wonder why the lads did not chain the trap to a stump, or a standing tree. Hunters never chain a bear-trap fast to the spot where they set it. They clog it, that is, fasten a heavy stick or log to it, for the bear to drag. If caught and held fast, at first, a large bear would demolish any trap. ”

“ The injury to trees and shrubs consists in the destruction of the bark just at the surface of the ground and in some instances for several inches above or below. When the girdling is complete and the cambium entirely eaten through, the action of sun and wind soon completes the destruction of the tree. If the injury is not too extensive prompt covering of the wounds will usually save the tree. ”

“ The pawns move forward one square at a time, except when a pawn is situated in front of a hostile piece with an unoccupied space on the further side, in which case the hostile pawn must be jumped, as at draughts, but without removing the jumped pawn from the board. ”

“ Some of their bodies broken, their limbs broken off, wounded and bruised, and stripped of their beautiful foliage. The noise of their fall and the force with which they struck the earth made the ground tremble and shake, and let the neighbors know that father and I were chopping, and that we were slaying the timber.
The grand old forest was melting away. The sides of many a tree had been cleft, and the chips bursted out, and they had disappeared all but their stumps. The timber was tall, I cut one whitewood that was about a foot through at the butt, and measured eighty-three feet to a limb. ”