Wild Western Scenes Part 47

"I'm a dead man!" said he.

La-u-na told him not to be alarmed, and a.s.sured him there was no danger.

"But I'll die before Sneak can get back!"

"Your voice is too strong to fear that," said William; "but do you suffer much pain?"

"Oh, I'm in agony!" said he, rolling back his eyes.

"Where does the pain lie?" asked Glenn.

"Oh, St. Peter! all over me! In my toes, ankles, legs, arms, heart, throat, mouth, nose, and eyes! Oh, I'm in tortures! I'm blind--I can't see any of you!"

At this moment Roughgrove, who had been over the river on a visit to Boone, entered the apartment with the renowned hunter at his side.

When fully informed of the circ.u.mstances, Boone stooped down and felt Joe's pulse.

"The strokes are irregular," said Boone.

"Oh heaven!" exclaimed Joe.

"But that may be caused by fright," continued Boone.

"Oh goodness! it ain't that--I'm a dying man!"

"Is the leg much swollen?" asked Boone, endeavouring to ascertain without taking off the bandages.

"Oh! oh! don't do that! it'll kill me in a minute--for its swelled fit to burst!" cried Joe, shrinking from Boone's grasp.

"All the cases of snake-bite that I have seen differ from this. I have always found the swollen limb nearly devoid of feeling. Did you kill the snake?"

"No--Oh!"

"Tell me precisely the place where you were standing when it bit you--there is a mystery about it that I must solve."

"Oh--it was--I can't speak! my breath's going fast! Oh! Paternoster--"

William then described the spot to Boone in such precise terms that the old woodman declared he would immediately repair thither and endeavour to find the snake. He accordingly set out in the direction indicated without further delay; while Roughgrove, believing that poor Joe was really on the verge of eternity, strove to comfort his departing spirit with the consolation that religion affords.

"Oh! that ain't the right one!" exclaimed Joe, pus.h.i.+ng away the Episcopal prayer-book held by Roughgrove.

"Then here is one you cannot object to," said Roughgrove, opening the Bible.

"Oh, that's not it, either!" cried Joe, in great distress. "Is there no priest in this region? I'm a Roman Catholic--oh!"

"Can you not confess your sins _directly_ to G.o.d--the G.o.d who is everywhere, and governs all things?" said the aged man, impressively, and with animation.

"I have prayed," said Joe; "but now I want the ointment!"

"Your body, which must be placed in the damp cold earth, needs no oil.

It is far better to purify the soul, which perishes not," said Roughgrove, in fervent and tremulous tones.

"Oh!--Oh! Ugh!" cried Joe, in a deep guttural voice, and turning over on his face. His fears had evidently been increased by the solemn tone and look of Roughgrove.

"Don't be alarmed, Joe," said Glenn, turning him again on his back.

"Sneak will soon be here, and La-u-na says the plantain will be sure to cure you. William tells me that he has seen the Indians permit the snakes to bite them for a mere trifle in money, so certain were they of being restored by the plant. And indeed he never knew a bite to terminate fatally."

"But I'm afraid Sneak won't come in time," replied Joe, somewhat comforted.

"Pshaw! he won't loiter in a case of this kind--he knows it is no joke," continued Glenn.

"But suppose he can't _find_ any plantain--then I'm dead to a certainty! Oh me!"

"Does the pain increase much?" asked Mary.

"Oh, yes! its ten times worse than it was ten minutes ago! I'm going fast--I can't move either leg now," he continued, in a weak utterance.

Glenn grew uneasy. Joe was pale--very pale, and breathed hard.

Boone entered, with a smile on his lip.

"Have you got the plantain?" asked Joe, in feeble accents, with his languid eyes nearly closed, thinking it was Sneak.

"Sit up and tell me how you feel," said Boone, in vain striving to repress his smile.

"Oh, St. Peter! I haven't strength enough to lift my hand," said Joe, his eyes still closed.

"Did you find the snake?" asked Glenn.

"Yes," replied Boone. Joe groaned audibly. "I will tell you all about it," he continued; "I found the spot where Joe had been gathering the berries, and tracked him without difficulty to every bush he visited by the bruised gra.s.s under his foot-prints. At length I came to the cl.u.s.ter of bushes where he received the wound. I stood in his cracks and saw where he had plucked the raspberries. When about to cast down my eyes in quest of the snake, suddenly I felt a blow on my own ankle!"

"Did the same snake bite you?" asked Mary, quickly.

"Yes," replied Boone, still smiling. Joe opened his eyes, and after gazing a moment at Boone, asked him if he did not suffer much pain.

"Fully as much as you do--but hear me through. I sprang back with some violence, I admit, but I did not run away. Lifting my cane, I returned with a determination to kill the snake. I stooped down very low to ascertain the precise position of its head, which was concealed by a large mullen leaf--I saw its eyes and its _bill_--"

"What!" exclaimed Joe, rising up on his elbow with unwonted vigour, and his eyes riveted on the speaker.

"Yes, its _bill_", continued Boone. "And while my cane was brandished in the air and about descending on its devoted head, a low clucking arrested my arm, and approaching closer to it than before, and gazing steadfastly a moment, I lowered my cane to its usual position, and fell back laughing on the gra.s.s among the raspberries you had dropped."

"Mr. Boone--Mr. Boone!" cried Joe, springing up in a sitting att.i.tude, and seizing the hand of the veteran, "for Heaven's sake tell me what it was?"

"It was an old SITTING HEN!" said Boone.

"Upon your honour?" continued Joe, leaping upon his feet, and staring the aged hunter in the face, while his eyes gleamed with irrepressible hope and anxiety.

"It was nothing else, upon my honour," replied Boone, laughing in concert with the rest.