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Article SCENES IN AMERICA. ← Page 5 of 8 →
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Scenes In America.
shortest course to the water , for I am really suffering very much with thirst . " " Agreed ; " said Ball , iu his usual slow and indifferent manner . " I ' m purty dry myself ; for I an ' t tasted a drop since the sun was n ' t near straight , ( long before 12 o ' clock ) , we was n't a huntin' when we seed the buck this mornin' , an' had n't no canteen , nor nothin' 'long with us . " Presently we came to the clear rapid little stream , running hurriedly over its gravelland sandy bed . My poor horse was ungovernable—he plunged
y at once into the water ; holding to the reins , I dipped my leathern cap into the delicious fluid , and drank to my full satisfaction . The old hunter turned up the brim of his old wool hat , and filling the space between it and the crown , by immersing it in the stream , soon satisfied his thirst . As Jack ' s hat was not stiff enough to serve the purpose of a cup , he threw himself flat upon the gravelly margin , and resting with his hands in the stream itself , put his mouth to the current at no great distance from that of the colt . " AVater ' s a capital thing ivhen a bod ' s real dry" said Ball .
y , " Yes ; I'll be durned if it an't ; " uttered Jack , as he rose to his feet with many a drop trickling from his fore top , nose , and chin ; all of which had come in contact , as well as his lips , with the water . After due praises of the goodness of water under our circumstances , we took up our line of march . I trusted to my halter for riding my horse the few steps over the creek ; Ball and Jack both took off their shoes , rolled up their trousers , and wailed across . It was now , the old man " reckoned , " about a mile to his habitation .
Not long after leaving the creek we fell into a small path-way , which , after a while , lead us through a remarkably dense thicket ; when Jack , who had not spoken but once before , since our departure from the sink , suddenly halted , and in a voice of great agitation—his eyes staring open—cried out" Daddy ! I'll tell ye what—if I did not see Tom Hinkle , this here an ' t no
buck . " " Where abouts ? " demanded the old man very coolly , but with very evident concern . " Don't you see yan shell-bark ? " —pointing to a large hickory tree" AVell , jist by it I seed his powder horn movin' along . " The old hunter leisurely but instantly examined his gun lock , saw that its pan was well filled with priming , shouldered his gun again , and ordered Jack to keep a good look out aud go on .
I felt somewhat disturbed at all this , and inquired of Ball what it meant . Keeping his eyes perpetually moving in every direction , while he was speaking in broken sentences , he enabled mc to gather—that Tom Hinkle was one of those foreign wretches , who find their way here and there into , and infect many of the newly settled parts of this country—a sort of men who , reared in pauperism , and educated in armies or piratical vessels , are filled with the worst passions , and the lowest impulses of our nature ; depending chiefly upon fraud for support , defying all restraint , and spending most of their time in the vilest dissipation . It seems that Hinkle had defrauded a neighbour of Ball out of a horse ; that this neighbour had prosecuted Hinkle
for a forgery committed in the transaction ; that Ball ' s evidence had nearly proved sufficient to convict Hinkle of the crime , which would have caused him to he imprisoned in the Penitentiary ; that Hinkle hacl sworn to take Ball's life , for "his interference ; " that "he was devil enough to do it ;" and indeed that he had , upon two occasions , when Ball's two grown sons were from home , as was now the case , attempted the diabolical act . " Do you really think , " I inquired , " that Hinkle will make another attempt upon your life nowwhen son and I are both with you ?"
, your " You ' ve both got no guns , an' Hinkle an't a goin' to come too close . If it's him , an' he ' s after me , he'll take a shot an' split for it . He ' s as big a coward as ever run . " " Are you sure that Jack saw any one ?" " That's no doubt , an' I reckon it was Hinkle . Jack ' s got a sharp eve .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scenes In America.
shortest course to the water , for I am really suffering very much with thirst . " " Agreed ; " said Ball , iu his usual slow and indifferent manner . " I ' m purty dry myself ; for I an ' t tasted a drop since the sun was n ' t near straight , ( long before 12 o ' clock ) , we was n't a huntin' when we seed the buck this mornin' , an' had n't no canteen , nor nothin' 'long with us . " Presently we came to the clear rapid little stream , running hurriedly over its gravelland sandy bed . My poor horse was ungovernable—he plunged
y at once into the water ; holding to the reins , I dipped my leathern cap into the delicious fluid , and drank to my full satisfaction . The old hunter turned up the brim of his old wool hat , and filling the space between it and the crown , by immersing it in the stream , soon satisfied his thirst . As Jack ' s hat was not stiff enough to serve the purpose of a cup , he threw himself flat upon the gravelly margin , and resting with his hands in the stream itself , put his mouth to the current at no great distance from that of the colt . " AVater ' s a capital thing ivhen a bod ' s real dry" said Ball .
y , " Yes ; I'll be durned if it an't ; " uttered Jack , as he rose to his feet with many a drop trickling from his fore top , nose , and chin ; all of which had come in contact , as well as his lips , with the water . After due praises of the goodness of water under our circumstances , we took up our line of march . I trusted to my halter for riding my horse the few steps over the creek ; Ball and Jack both took off their shoes , rolled up their trousers , and wailed across . It was now , the old man " reckoned , " about a mile to his habitation .
Not long after leaving the creek we fell into a small path-way , which , after a while , lead us through a remarkably dense thicket ; when Jack , who had not spoken but once before , since our departure from the sink , suddenly halted , and in a voice of great agitation—his eyes staring open—cried out" Daddy ! I'll tell ye what—if I did not see Tom Hinkle , this here an ' t no
buck . " " Where abouts ? " demanded the old man very coolly , but with very evident concern . " Don't you see yan shell-bark ? " —pointing to a large hickory tree" AVell , jist by it I seed his powder horn movin' along . " The old hunter leisurely but instantly examined his gun lock , saw that its pan was well filled with priming , shouldered his gun again , and ordered Jack to keep a good look out aud go on .
I felt somewhat disturbed at all this , and inquired of Ball what it meant . Keeping his eyes perpetually moving in every direction , while he was speaking in broken sentences , he enabled mc to gather—that Tom Hinkle was one of those foreign wretches , who find their way here and there into , and infect many of the newly settled parts of this country—a sort of men who , reared in pauperism , and educated in armies or piratical vessels , are filled with the worst passions , and the lowest impulses of our nature ; depending chiefly upon fraud for support , defying all restraint , and spending most of their time in the vilest dissipation . It seems that Hinkle had defrauded a neighbour of Ball out of a horse ; that this neighbour had prosecuted Hinkle
for a forgery committed in the transaction ; that Ball ' s evidence had nearly proved sufficient to convict Hinkle of the crime , which would have caused him to he imprisoned in the Penitentiary ; that Hinkle hacl sworn to take Ball's life , for "his interference ; " that "he was devil enough to do it ;" and indeed that he had , upon two occasions , when Ball's two grown sons were from home , as was now the case , attempted the diabolical act . " Do you really think , " I inquired , " that Hinkle will make another attempt upon your life nowwhen son and I are both with you ?"
, your " You ' ve both got no guns , an' Hinkle an't a goin' to come too close . If it's him , an' he ' s after me , he'll take a shot an' split for it . He ' s as big a coward as ever run . " " Are you sure that Jack saw any one ?" " That's no doubt , an' I reckon it was Hinkle . Jack ' s got a sharp eve .