The Boy Hunters

The Boy Hunters.

by Captain Mayne Reid.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE HOME OF THE HUNTER-NATURALIST.

Go with me to the great river Mississippi. It is the longest river in the world. A line that would measure it would just reach to the centre of the earth,--in other words, it is four thousand miles in length. Go with me to this majestic river.

I do not wish you to travel to its source; only as far up as Point Coupee, about three hundred miles from its mouth. There we shall stop for a while--a very short while--for we have a long journey to make.

Our route lies to the far west--over the great prairies of Texas; and from Point Coupee we shall take our departure.

There is a village at Point Coupee--a quaint, old, French-looking village built of wood. In point of fact it _is_ a French village; for it was one of the earliest settlements of that people, who, with the Spaniards, were the first colonists of Western America. Hence we find, to this day, French and Spanish people, with French and Spanish names and customs, all through the Mississippi valley and the regions that lie west of it.

We have not much to do with these things at present, and very little to say of Point Coupee, more than we have already said. Our subject is an odd-looking house that, many years ago, stood upon the western bank of the river, about a mile below the village. I say it stood there many years ago; but it is very likely that it is still standing, as it was a firm, well-built house, of hewn logs, carefully c.h.i.n.ked, and plastered between the c.h.i.n.ks with run-lime. It was roofed with cedar shingles that projected at the eaves, so as to cast off the rain, and keep the walls dry. It was what in that country is called a "double house,"-- that is, a large pa.s.sage ran across the middle of it, through which you might have driven a wagon loaded with hay. This pa.s.sage was roofed and ceiled, like the rest of the house, and floored with strong planks. The flooring, elevated a foot above the surface of the ground, projected several feet in front of the pa.s.sage, where carved uprights of cedar-wood supported a light roof, forming a porch or verandah. Around these uprights, and upon the railing that shut in the verandah, clung vines, rose-bushes, and convolvulus plants, that at certain seasons of the year were cl.u.s.tered over with beautiful flowers.

The house faced the river, standing, as I have said, on its western bank--on the same side with Point Coupee. In front was a lawn, some two hundred yards in length, that stretched toward the river, and ended on the low bluff forming its bank. This lawn was enclosed by high rail-fences, and variegated with clumps of shrubbery and ornamental trees. Most of them were indigenous to the country; but there were exotics as well. Among the trees you could not fail to notice the large-flowered magnolia (_Magnolia grandiflora_), the red mulberry (_Morus rubra_), the pale-green leaves of the catalpa, the tall tulip-tree (_liriodendron_), and the shining foliage of the orange.

In contrast with the brighter frondage of these were dark cone-shaped cedars, and spire-like forms of the yew. There were date-trees and weeping willows growing upon the river bank, and drooping gracefully over its current. Other plants and trees might be distinguished--the natives of a southern clime--such as the great Mexican aloe (_Agave Americana_), the bayonet blades of the yucca, and the fan-like leaves of the palmetto. Beautiful birds of many varieties might be seen among the copses, or moving over the gra.s.sy sward of the lawn.

In the great hall or pa.s.sage, already mentioned, a singular picture presented itself. Along the walls, on both sides, were suspended various implements of the chase, such as rifles, shot guns, pouches, flasks, hunting-knives, and, in short, every species of trap, net, or implement, that could be devised for capturing the wild denizens of the earth, air, and water. Horns of the stag and elk were fastened to the hewn logs; and upon their branching antlers hung hair-bridles, and high-peaked saddles of the Mexican or Spanish fashion. In addition to these were skins of rare birds and quadrupeds, artistically preserved by stuffing, and placed on pedestals around the wooden walls. There were gla.s.s cases, too, containing moths, b.u.t.terflies, and other insects, impaled upon pins, and arranged in systematic order. In short, this hall resembled a little museum.

Were we to enter and examine the inside of the house, we should find three or four good-sized rooms, comfortably furnished, and all stocked with subjects of natural history, and implements of the chase. In one of the rooms we should see a barometer and thermometer hanging against the wall, an old clock over the mantel-piece, a sabre and pistols, and a book-case containing many choice and valuable books.

To the rear of the house we should find a small kitchen built of logs, and containing the usual culinary utensils. Still farther back we should meet with an enclosed yard, having a storehouse and stable at one end. In the stables we should find four horses, and several mules might be observed in the enclosure. A large reddish dog with long ears, and having the appearance of a hound, might be seen straying about the yard, and would not fail to attract our attention.

An observer, viewing this house from a distance, would take it for the residence of a wealthy planter; on a nearer inspection, however, it would not pa.s.s for that. There were no rows of negro cabins, no great sugar-mills, nor tobacco-warehouses, such as are always to be seen near the planter"s dwelling. Nothing of the sort; nor was there any very large tract of cultivated land contiguous to the house. The dark cypress forest in the background cast its shadow almost up to the walls.

Plainly it was not the dwelling of a planter. What then was it, and who were its inmates? It was the home of a _Hunter-Naturalist_.

CHAPTER TWO.

THE HUNTER-NATURALIST AND HIS FAMILY.

In 1815 was fought the famous battle of Waterloo, and in the same year Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island-rock of Saint Helena. Many French officers, who had followed the fortunes of the great adventurer, at that time emigrated to America. Most of these, as was very natural, sought the French settlements on the Mississippi, and there made their homes for life. Among them was one named Landi, who had been a colonel of cha.s.seurs in Napoleon"s army. He was by birth a Corsican; and it was through his being a friend and early acquaintance of one of the Bonaparte family that he had been induced to become an officer in the French army--for in his youth he had been fonder of science than soldiering.

While campaigning in Spain, Landi had married a Basque lady, by whom he had three children, all sons. Their mother died before the battle of Waterloo was fought; so that when Landi emigrated to America his family consisted of his three sons alone.

He first went to Saint Louis, but after a while moved down the river to Point Coupee, in Louisiana, where he purchased the house we have just described, and made it his home.

Let me tell you that he was not in any circ.u.mstances of necessity.

Previous to his departure for America, he had sold his patrimonial estates in Corsica for a sum of money--enough to have enabled him to live without labour in any country, but particularly in that free land of cheap food and light taxation--the land of his adoption. He was, therefore, under no necessity of following any trade or profession in his new home--and he followed none. How then did he employ his time? I will tell you. He was an educated man. Previous to his entering the French army he had studied the natural sciences. He was a _naturalist_.

A naturalist can find employment anywhere--can gather both instruction and amus.e.m.e.nt where others would die of _ennui_ and idleness. Remember!

there are "sermons in stones, and books in running brooks." He was not a closet naturalist either. Like the great Audubon he was fond of the outside world. He was fond of drawing his lessons from Nature herself.

He combined a pa.s.sion for the chase with his more delicate taste for scientific pursuits; and where could he have better placed himself to indulge in these than in the great region of the Mississippi valley, teeming with objects of interest both to the hunter and the naturalist?

In my opinion, he made good choice of his home.

Well, between hunting, and fishing, and stuffing his birds, and preserving the skins of rare quadrupeds, and planting and pruning his trees, and teaching his boys, and training his dogs and horses, Landi was far from being idle. His boys, of course, a.s.sisted him in these occupations, as far as they were able. But he had another a.s.sistant-- Hugot.

Who was Hugot? I shall describe Hugot for your benefit.

Hugot was a Frenchman--a very small Frenchman, indeed--not over five feet four inches in height. He was dapper and tidy--had a large aquiline nose, and, notwithstanding his limited stature, a pair of tremendous moustachios, that curved over his mouth so as almost to hide it. These gave him a somewhat fierce aspect, which, combined with his upright carriage, and brisk mechanical-like movements, told you at once what Hugot had been--a French soldier. He was, in fact, a _ci-devant_ corporal of cha.s.seurs. Landi had been his colonel. The rest you will easily guess. He had followed his old leader to America, and was now his man for everything. It was not often that you could see the naturalist without also seeing Hugot"s great moustachios close by his elbow. It would have killed Hugot to have been separated for any length of time from his old colonel.

Of course Hugot accompanied his master in all his hunting expeditions.

So, too, did the boys, as soon as they were able to sit upon a horse.

On these occasions the house would be shut up, for there was no housekeeper nor any other domestic about the establishment. It would remain thus for days, sometimes for weeks together--for the naturalist with his party often made distant excursions into the surrounding forests. They would return laden with spoils--skins of birds and beasts, plants, and rare geological specimens. Then whole days would be spent in the arrangement of these new acquisitions. Thus did Landi and his family pa.s.s their time.

Hugot was cook, valet, groom, butler, and errand boy. I have already stated that no other domestic, male or female, lived in the house: Hugot, therefore, was chambermaid as well. His manifold occupations, however, were not so difficult to fulfil as might at first appear. The Colonel was a man of simple habits. He had learned these when a soldier, and he brought up his sons to live like himself. He ate plain food, drank only water, and slept upon a camp-bed with a buffalo-robe and a blanket. A laundress in Point Coupee kept the linen clean; and Hugot was not near so busy with house affairs as you might suppose. He made daily journeys to the village--to the market, and the post-office, from which he often brought letters, many of them with large seals, and the arms of a prince upon them! Sometimes, too, after a steamer had called at the landing, parcels arrived containing books--scientific books they were--or curious instruments. Notwithstanding all this, there was nothing mysterious about the life of the hunter-naturalist.

He was no misanthrope. He often visited the village, and would gossip with old hunters and others who lived there. The villagers knew him as the "old Colonel," and respected him. They only wondered at his tastes as a naturalist, which to them seemed strange. They wondered, too, how he managed to keep house without a maid-servant. But the Colonel did not trouble his head about their conjectures. He only laughed at their curious inquiries, and remained on as good terms as ever. His boys, too, as they grew up became great favourites with all. They were the best shots of their age, could ride a horse with any, could swim the Mississippi, paddle a canoe, fling a la.s.so, or spear a catfish, as though they had been full-grown men. They were, in fact, boy-men; and as such were regarded by the simple villagers, who instinctively felt the superiority which education and training had given to these youths over their own uneducated minds. The boys, notwithstanding these advantages, were affable with the villagers; hence the respect in which they were universally held.

None of his neighbours ever visited the Colonel, except on matters of business. Indeed he had no visitors of any sort, if we except one or two of his former military a.s.sociates, who lived at New Orleans, and came up to his house about once a-year to talk over old times, and taste his venison. On such occasions "Napoleon le Grand" was of course the main subject of conversation. Like all old soldiers of the Empire, Landi worshipped Napoleon; but there was one of the Bonaparte family for whom the naturalist entertained a still higher feeling of regard, amounting in fact to sincere friendship. This was Charles Lucien, prince of Musignano.

Not all the Bonapartes have been bad. Some of the members of that remarkable family have given evidence to the world that they were the possessors of n.o.ble virtue. The quiet researches of the Prince of Musignano as a student of natural history, may be looked upon as so many conquests in the kingdom of Nature; and though they have been eclipsed by the more brilliant and sanguinary triumphs of the Emperor, yet do they far more ent.i.tle him to the grat.i.tude and respect of men. He was the true hero of the hunter-naturalist Landi.

For many years did Colonel Landi lead the life we have described. An event at length happened that was near proving fatal to him. He had been wounded in the leg during his campaigns in the Peninsula. A fall from his horse reopened this wound, and amputation became necessary.

This saved his life, but he could no longer partake of the amus.e.m.e.nts of the chase, although still able to indulge in the more delicate pursuits of the naturalist. With his wooden leg he was able to hobble about the house and lawn, prune the trees, and attend to his pets that had grown to be quite numerous, while Hugot at all times followed him about like his shadow. The boys, however, went abroad on hunting expeditions, and collected specimens as formerly; and the life of all went on pretty much as usual.

Thus it was when I first became acquainted with the naturalist, his man Hugot, and his three sons--the _Boy Hunters_, the heroes of our little book.

Young reader, permit me to introduce you to a more intimate acquaintance with them. I fancy you will like them--all three--and be happy for some time in their society.

CHAPTER THREE.

THE PRINCE"S LETTER.

It is a lovely morning in Spring as we approach their dwelling. We enter the lawn by a side-gate. We need not go into the house, for there is no one within doors. The weather is too fine for that, but they are all at home notwithstanding. They are in the lawn in front, and the verandah.

They are differently occupied. The Colonel himself is engaged feeding his pets. Hugot is helping him, and carries the basket containing their food.

You would call the Colonel a fine-looking man. His hair is as white as bleached flax. So, too, are his moustaches. He wears no beard. His face is cleanly shaved, showing a complexion bronzed and somewhat ruddy.

The expression of his countenance is mild, though firm. He is much thinner than he has been in his time, on account of the amputation of his leg, which often produces this effect. His dress is simple. A jacket of yellow nankeen, a striped cotton shirt, with loose cottonade trousers of bright sky colour. A Panama hat, with very broad brim, shades his eyes from the sun, and his shirt is open at the throat, for the day is warm. Thus is the Colonel attired. Hugot is dressed after a somewhat similar fashion; but the material of his jacket and trousers is coa.r.s.er, and his hat is of the common palmetto leaf.

Look at Basil, the oldest of the boys. He is at work fixing some straps to a hunting-saddle, that lies on the gra.s.s beside him. Basil is exactly seventeen years of age. He is a fine-looking lad, though not what you might call handsome. His face has a courageous expression, and his form betokens strength. His hair is straight, and black as jet. He is more like an Italian than either of his brothers. He is, in fact, the son of his father--a true Corsican. Basil is a "mighty hunter." He is more fond of the chase than of aught else. He loves hunting for itself, and delights in its dangers. He has got beyond the age of bird-catching and squirrel shooting. His ambition is not now to be satisfied with anything less exciting than a panther, bear, or buffalo hunt.

How very unlike him is Lucien, the second in age! Unlike in almost everything. Lucien is delicately formed, with a light complexion and very fair hair. He is more like what his mother was, for she was fair-haired and _blonde_, as are many of her people--the Basques.

Lucien is pa.s.sionately fond of books and study. He is busy with a book just now in the verandah. He is a student of natural history in general, but botany and geology are his favourite sciences, and he has made considerable progress in both. He accompanies Basil on all hunting expeditions; but, in the midst of the most exciting chase, Lucien would leap down from his horse if a rare plant or flower, or an odd-looking rock, was to fall under his eye. Lucien talks but little--not half so much as most boys--but although habitually silent he possesses a rare good sense; and when he offers his advice upon any question, it is usually received with respect by the others. Such is the secret influence of intellect and education.

Next and last, we have Francois, a quick-witted, curly-haired urchin-- merry to madness--cheerful at all times--changeable in his tastes and likings--versatile in talents--in short, more of a Frenchman than any of them. Francois is a great bird-catcher. He is at this moment engaged in repairing his nets; and his double-barrel shot gun, which he has just finished cleaning, rests beside him. Francois is a favourite with everybody, but a great pest to Hugot, upon whom he plays numerous tricks.

While the naturalist and his family were thus engaged, a loud booming noise was heard at some distance off, down the river. It somewhat resembled the regular firing of great guns, though the explosions sounded softer and more hollow.

"A steamboat!" cried Francois, whose ear first caught the sounds.