Popular Adventure Tales Part 21

When first seen it was coming towards him, though not in a direct line.

It was engaged in hunting, and, with its nose to the snow, was running in zig-zag lines, "quartering" the ground like a pointer dog. Presently it struck the trail of the ermine, and with a yelp of satisfaction followed it. This of course brought it close past where Lucien was; but, notwithstanding his eagerness to fire, it moved so rapidly along the trail that he was unable to take sight upon it. It did not halt for a moment; and, as Lucien's gun was a rifle, he knew that a flying shot would be an uncertain one. In the belief, therefore, that the fox would stop soon--at all events when it came up with the ermine--he restrained himself from firing, and waited.

It ran on, still keeping the track of the ermine. The latter, hitherto busy with his own prey, did not see the fox until it was itself seen, when, dropping the half-eaten mouse, it reared up on its hind-quarters like a squirrel or a monkey, at the same time spitting as spitefully as any other weasel could have done. In a moment, however, it changed its tactics--for the open jaws of the fox were within a few paces of it--and after making a short quick run along the surface, it threw up its hind-quarters, and plunged head-foremost into the snow! The fox sprang forward, and flinging his brush high in the air, shot after like an arrow!

Both had now disappeared from Lucien's sight. For a moment the surface of the snow was disturbed above the spot where they had gone down, but the next moment all was still, and no evidence existed that a living creature had been there, except the tracks, and the break the two creatures had made in going down. Lucien ran forward until he was within a few yards of the place, and stood watching the hole, with his rifle ready--thinking that the fox, at least, would soon come up again.

He had waited for nearly five minutes, looking steadily at this point, when his eye was attracted by a movement under the snow, at a considerable distance, quite fifty paces, from where he stood. The frozen crust was seen to upheave: and, the next moment, the head of the fox, and afterwards his whole body, appeared above the surface. Lucien saw that the ermine lay transversely between his jaws, and was quite dead! He was about to fire, but the fox, suddenly perceiving him, shot off like an arrow, carrying his prey along with him.

He was soon out of reach, and Lucien, seeing that he had lost his chance, was about to return to the fire, when, all at once, the fox was observed to stop, turn suddenly in his tracks, and run off in a new direction! Lucien looked beyond to ascertain the cause of this strange manoeuvre. That was soon ascertained. Coming down from among the rocks was a large animal--five times the fox's size--but in other respects not unlike him. It was also of a snow-white colour, with long hair, bushy tail, and short erect ears, but its aspect was not to be mistaken. It was the great _white wolf_.

When Lucien first saw this new-comer, the latter had just espied the fox, and was about stretching out into a gallop towards him. The fox, _watching backwards_ as he ran, had not seen the wolf, until the latter was within a few springs of him; and now when he had turned, and both were in full chase, there was not over twenty yards between them. The direction in which they ran would bring them near to Lucien; and so they came, and pa.s.sed him--neither of them seeming to heed his presence. They had not got many yards farther, before Lucien perceived that the wolf was fast closing on the fox, and would soon capture him. Believing he would then stop, so as to offer him a fairer chance for a shot, Lucien followed. The wolf, however, had noticed him coming after, and although the next moment he closed his great jaws upon the fox, he did not pause for a single instant, but, lifting the latter clear up from the ground, ran on without the slightest apparent diminution of speed!

Reynard was seen to struggle and kick, while he squeaked like a shot puppy; but his cries each moment grew feebler, and his struggles soon came to an end. The wolf held him transversely in his jaws--just as he himself but the moment before had carried the ermine.

Lucien saw there was no use in following them, as the wolf ran on with his prey. With some disappointment, therefore, he was about to return to the fire, where, to add to his mortification, he knew he would find his tea-leaves parched to a cinder. He lingered a moment, however, with his eyes still fixed upon the departing wolf that was just about to disappear over the crest of a ridge. The fox was still in his jaws, but no longer struggling. Reynard looked limber and dead, as his legs swung loosely on both sides of the wolf's head Lucien at that moment saw the latter suddenly stop in his career, and then drop down upon the surface of the snow as if dead! He fell with his victim in his jaws, and lay half doubled up, and quite still.

This strange action would have been a difficult thing for Lucien to explain, but, almost at the same instant in which he observed it, a puff of blue smoke shot up over the ridge, and quickly following was heard the sharp crack of a rifle. Then a head with its cap of racc.o.o.n skin appeared above the snow, and Lucien, recognising the face of Basil, ran forward to meet him.

Both soon stood over the body of the dead wolf, wondering at what they saw; but Basil, far more than Lucien--for the latter already knew the circ.u.mstances of that strange scene of death. First there was the great gaunt body of the wolf stretched along the snow, and quite dead.

Cross-ways in his mouth was the fox, just as he had been carried off; and across the jaws of the latter, lay the long worm-like body of the ermine, still retaining between its teeth the half-devoured remains of the white-footed mouse! A very chain of destroyers! These creatures died as they had lived, preying one upon the other! Of all four the little mouse alone was an innocent victim. The other three, though morally guilty by the laws of man, yet were only acting in obedience to the laws of Nature and necessity.

Man himself obeys a similar law, as Basil had just shown. Philosophize as we will, we cannot comprehend why it is so--why Nature requires the sacrifice of one of her creatures for the sustenance of another. But although we cannot understand the cause, we must not condemn the fact as it exists; nor must we suppose, as some do, that the destruction of G.o.d's creatures for our necessities const.i.tutes a crime. They who think so, and who, in consistency with their doctrines, confine themselves to what they term "vegetable" food, are at best but shallow reasoners. They have not studied Nature very closely, else would they know that every time they pluck up a parsnip, or draw their blade across the leaf of a lettuce, they cause pain and death!

How much pain we cannot tell; but that the plant feels, as well as the animal, we can clearly _prove_. Probably it feels less, and it may be each kind of plant differs from others in the amount, according to its higher or lower organism. Probably its amount of pleasure--its capability of enjoyment--is in a direct proportion to the pain which it endures; and it is highly probable that this double line of ratios runs in an ascending scale throughout the vegetable kingdom, gradually joining on to what is more strictly termed the "animal." But these mysteries of life, my young friend, will be interesting studies for you when your mind becomes matured.

Perhaps it may be your fortune to unravel some of them, for the benefit of your fellow-men. I feel satisfied that you will not only be a student of Nature, but one of her great teachers; you will far surpa.s.s the author of this little book in your knowledge of Nature's laws; but it will always be a happiness to him to reflect, that, when far advanced upon the highway of science, you will look back to him as one you had pa.s.sed upon the road, and who _pointed you to the path_.

Though Basil had shot the wolf, it was plain that it was not the first nor yet the second time he had discharged his rifle since leaving the camp. From his game-bag protruded the curving claws and wing-tips of a great bird. In one hand he carried a white hare--not the Polar hare--but a much smaller kind, also an inhabitant of these snowy regions; and over his shoulders was slung a fierce-looking creature, the great wild-cat or lynx of America. The bird in his bag was the golden eagle, one of the few feathered creatures that brave the fierce winter of a northern climate, and does not migrate, like its congeners, the "white-head" and the osprey, to more southern regions.

Basil had returned alone--for the three, Basil, Norman, and Francois, had taken different directions at setting out. This they had done, in order to have as great a number of chances as possible of finding the game. Norman came in a few minutes after, bearing a whole deer upon his shoulders--a glad sight that was--and, a short interval having pa.s.sed, Francois's "hurrah" sounded upon their ears, and Francois himself was seen coming up the valley loaded like a little donkey with two bunches of large snow-white birds.

The camp now exhibited a cheering sight. Such a variety was never seen even in the larder of a palace kitchen. The ground was strewed with animals like a dead menagerie. There were no less than a dozen kinds upon it!

The hare-soup was now quite ready, and was accordingly served up by Lucien in the best style. Lucien had dried a fresh "grist" of the tea leaves, and a cheering cup followed; and then the party all sat around their log-fire, while each of them detailed the history of his experience since parting with the others.

Francois was the first to relate what had befallen him.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

THE JERFALCON AND THE WHITE GROUSE.

"Mine," began Francois, "was a bird adventure, as you all see--though what kind of birds I've shot, _I_ can't tell. One of them's a hawk, I'm sure; but it's a _white_ hawk, and that I never saw before. The rest, I suppose, are _white_ partridges. Everything appears to be white here.

What are they, Luce?"

"You are right about this first," answered Lucien, taking up one of the birds which Francois had brought back with him, and which was white all but a few spots of clove-brown upon its back. "This is a hawk, as you may tell, by its appearance, or rather I should say a 'falcon,' for you must know there is a difference."

"What difference?" demanded Francois, with some eagerness of manner.

"Why the princ.i.p.al difference is the formation of their beaks or bills.

The bills of the true falcons are stronger, and have a notch in the lower mandible answering to a tooth in the upper one. Their nostrils, too, are differently formed. But another point of distinction is found in their habits. Both feed on warm-blooded animals, and neither will eat carrion. In this respect the hawks and falcons are alike. Both take their prey upon the wing; but herein lies the difference. The hawks capture it by skimming along horizontally or obliquely, and picking it up as they pa.s.s; whereas the true falcons 'pounce' down upon it from above, and in a line nearly vertical."

"Then this must be a true falcon," interrupted Francois, "for I saw the gentleman do that very thing; and beautifully he did it, too."

"It is a falcon," continued Lucien; "and of the many species of hawks which inhabit North America--over twenty in all--it is one of the boldest and handsomest. I don't wonder you never saw it before; for it is truly a bird of the Northern regions, and does not come so far south as the territory of the United States, much less into Louisiana. It is found in North Europe, Greenland, and Iceland, and has been seen as far north on both continents as human beings have travelled. It is known by the name of 'jerfalcon,' or 'gyrfalcon,' but its zoological name is _Falco Islandicus_."

"The Indians here," interposed Norman, "call it by a name that means 'winter bird,' or 'winterer'--I suppose, because it is one of the few that stay in these parts all the year round, and is therefore often noticed by them in winter time. The traders sometimes call it the 'speckled partridge-hawk,' for there are some of them more spotted than this one is."

"True," said Lucien; "the young ones are nearly of a brown colour, and they first become spotted or mottled after a year or two. They are several years old before they get the white plumage, and very few individuals are seen of a pure white all over, though there are some without a spot."

"Yes," continued the naturalist, "it is the jerfalcon; and those other birds which you call 'white partridges,' are the very creatures upon which it preys. So you have killed both the tyrant and his victims. They are not partridges though, but grouse--that species known as 'willow grouse.'"

And as Lucien said this, he began to handle the birds, which were of a beautiful white all over, with the exception of the tail feathers. These last were pitch-black.

"Ho!" exclaimed Lucien, in some surprise, "you have two kinds here! Were they all together when you shot them?"

"No," answered Francois; "one I shot along with the hawk out in the open ground. All the others I killed upon a tree in a piece of woods that I fell in with. There's no difference between them that I can see."

"But I can," said Lucien, "although I acknowledge they all look very much alike. Both are feathered to the toes--both have the black feathers in the tail--and the bills of both are black; but if you observe closely, this kind--the willow-grouse--has the bill much stronger and less flattened. Besides, it is a larger bird than the other, which is 'the rock-grouse.' Both are sometimes, though erroneously, called 'ptarmigan;' but they are not the true ptarmigan--such as exist in North Europe--though these last are also to be met with in the Northern parts of America. The ptarmigan are somewhat larger than either of these kinds, but in other respects differ but little from them.

"The habits of the 'rock' and 'willow' grouse are very similar. They are both birds of the snowy region, and are found as far north as has been explored. The willow-grouse in winter keep more among the trees, and are oftener met with in wooded countries; whereas the others like best to live in the open ground, and, from your statement, it appears you found each kind in its favourite haunt."

"Just so," said Francois. "After leaving here, I kept down the valley, and was just crossing an open piece of high ground, when I espied the white hawk, or falcon as you call it, hovering in the air as I'd often seen hawks do. Well, I stopped and hid behind a rock, thinking I might have a chance to put a few drops into him. All at once he appeared to stand still in the air, and, then closing his wings, shot down like an arrow. Just then I heard a loud '_whur-r-r_,' and up started a whole covey of white partridges--grouse, I should say--the same as this you call the 'rock-grouse.' I saw that the hawk had missed the whole of them, and I marked them as they flew off.

"They pitched about a hundred yards or so, and then went plunge under the snow--every one of them making a hole for itself just like where one had poked their foot in! I guess, boys, this looked funny enough. I thought I would be sure to get a shot at some of these grouse as they came out again; so I walked straight up to the holes they had made, and stood waiting. I still saw the hawk hovering in the air, about an hundred yards ahead of me.

"I was considering whether I ought to go farther on, and tramp the birds out of the snow; for I believed, of course, they were still under the place where the holes were. All at once I noticed a movement on the crust of the snow right under where the hawk was flying, and then that individual shot down to the spot, and disappeared under the snow! At the same instant, the crust broke in several places, and up came the grouse one after another, and whirred off out of sight, without giving me any sort of a chance. The hawk, however, had not come up yet; and I ran forward, determined to take him as soon as he should make his appearance. When I had got within shooting distance, up he fluttered to the surface, and--what do you think?--he had one of the grouse struggling in his claws! I let him have the right barrel, and both he and grousy were knocked dead as a couple of door-nails!

"I thought I might fall in with the others again; and kept on in the direction they had taken, which brought me at last to a piece of woodland consisting of birches and willow-trees. As I was walking along the edge of this, I noticed one of the willows, at some distance off, covered with great white things, that at first I took for flakes of snow; but then I thought it curious that none of the other trees had the same upon them. As I came a little nearer, I noticed one of the things moving, and then I saw they were birds, and very like the same I had just seen, and was then in search of. So I crept in among the trees; and, after some dodging, got within beautiful shooting distance, and gave them both barrels. There, you see the result!"

Here Francois triumphantly pointed to the pile of birds, which in all, with the jerfalcon, counted four brace and a half.

One was the rock-grouse, which the falcon had itself killed, and the others were willow-grouse, as Lucien had stated. Francois now remained silent, while Basil related his day's adventure.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

THE HARE, THE LYNX, AND THE GOLDEN EAGLE.

"Frank," began he, "has called his 'a bird adventure.' I might give mine somewhat of the same t.i.tle, for there was a bird mixed up with it--the n.o.blest of all birds--the eagle. But you shall hear it.

"On leaving the camp, I went, as you all know, up the valley. After travelling for a quarter of a mile or so, I came upon a wide open bottom, where there were some scattered willows and clumps of dwarf birch-trees. As Luce had told me that such are the favourite food of the American hare, or, as we call it in Louisiana, 'rabbit,' I looked out for the sign of one, and, sure enough, I soon came upon a track, which I knew to be that of 'puss.' It was fresh enough, and I followed it. It kept me meandering about for a long while, till at last I saw that it took a straight course for some thick brushwood, with two or three low birches growing out of it.