my flesh; my gråsp upon his antlers was growing less and less firm, and yet I relinquished not my hold. 4. "The struggle had brought us near a deep ditch, washed 1 by autumn rains, and into this I endeavored to force my adversary; but my strength was unequal to the effort: when we approached to the věry brink, he leaped over the drain. I relinquished my hold, and rolled in, hoping thus to escape him; but he returned to the attack, and throwing himself upon me, inflicted numerous severe cuts upon my face and breast befōre I could again seize him. 5. "Locking my arms around his antlers, I drew his head close to my breast, and was thus, by great effort, enabled to prevent his doing me any serious injury. But I felt that this could not last long; every muscle and fiber of my frame was called into action, and human nature could not long bear up under such exertion. Faltering a silent prayer to Heaven, I prepared to meet my fate. 6. "At this moment of despair? I heard the faint bayings of the hound; the stag, too, heard the sound, and springing from the ditch, drew me with him. His efforts were now redoubled, and I could scarcely cling to him. Yet that welcome sound came nearer and nearer! Oh, how wildly beat my heart as I saw the hound emerge from the ravïne, and spring forward with a short, quick bark, as his eye rested on his game! 7. "I released my hold of the stag, which tûrned upon the new enemy. Exhausted,5 and unable to rise, I still cheered the dog, that, dastard 6-like, fled before the infuriated animal, which, seemingly despising such an enemy, again threw himself upon me. Again did I succeed in throwing my arms around his antlers, but not until he had inflicted several deep and dangerous wounds upon my head and face, cutting to the věry bone. 8. "Blinded by the flowing blood, exhausted and despâiring, I cursed the coward dog, which stood near, baying furiously, yět refusing to seize his game. Oh, how I wished for Bravo! 1 Washed (wŎsht). 2 Despair (de spâr'), loss of hope. Emerge (e merj'), come forth from; rise out of and appear. 4 Ravine (ra vēn'), a deep and narrow hollow, usually worn by water. 6 5 Exhausted (egz hast'ed), deprived wholly of strength; fatigued. Dǎs'tard, one who meanly shrinks from danger; a great coward. 7 Wound (wond), a hurt; an injury; damage. The thoughts of death. were bitter. To die thus in the wild forest ålōne, with none to help! Thoughts of home and friends coursed like lightning through my brain. At that moment, when hope herself had fled, deep and clear over the neighboring hill came the baying of my gallant Bravo! I 9. "I should have known his voice among a thousand. pealed fōrth, in one faint shout: On, Bravo, on!' The next moment, with tiger-like bounds, the noble dog came leaping down the hill, scattering the dried autumnal leaves like a whirlwind in his päth. No pause he knew;' but fixing his fangs 1 in the stag's throat, he at once commenced the struggle. 10. “I fell back, completely exhausted. Blinded with blood, I ōuly knew that a terrific struggle was going on. In a few moments all was still, and I felt the warm breath of my faithful dog as he licked my wounds. Clearing my eyes from gōre, I saw my late adversary dead at my feet, and Bravo standing over me. He had gnawed in two the rope with which he had been tied, and following his måster through all his windings, arrived in time to rescue him from a horrible death." SECTION VIII. I. 26. ARAB'S FAREWELL TO HIS STEED. Μ MY Y beautiful, my beautiful! that standèst meekly by, Fret not to roam the desert now with all thy wingèd speed; 2. Fret not with that impatient hoof-snuff not the breezy wind; The farther that thou fliest now, so far am I behind; 1 Făngs, tusks; long, pointed teeth by which the prey is seized and held. The stranger hath thy bridle rein; thy måster hath his gold;— Fleet-limbed and beautiful, farewell!-thou'rt sold, my steed, thou'rt sold! 3. Farewell!-Thōse free, untired limbs full many a mile must roam, To reach the chill and wintry clime that clouds the stranger's home; Some other hand, less kind, must now thy corn and bed prepâre; That silky mane I braided once must be another's câre. 4. The morning sun shall dawn again-but never more with thee Shall I gallop o'er the desert päths where we were wont1 to be. Evening shall darken on the earth; and, o'er the sandy plain, Some other steed, with slower pace, shall bear me home again. 5. Only in sleep shall I behold that dark eye glancing bright— 6. Ah! rudely then, unseen by me, some cruel hand may chide, Till foam-wreaths lie, like crested waves, along thy panting side, And the rich blood that's in thee swells, in thy indignant pain, Till careless eyes that on thee gaze may count each starting vein! 7. Will they ill use thee? If I thought-but no-it can not be ; Thou art so swift, yet easy cûrbed,2 so gentle, yet so free ;— And yet, if haply when thou'rt gone, this lonely heart should yearn, Can the hand that casts thee from it now, command thee to return? I Wont (wǎnt), uşed; accustomed. 2 Curbed, restrained: subdued. 8. "Return!"-alas! my Arab steed! what will thy måster do, When thou, that wast his all of joy, hast vanished from his view? When the dim distance greets mine eyes, and through the gathering tears Thy bright form for a moment, like the false mirage,1 appears? 9. Slow and unmounted will I roam, with wearied foot, alone, Where, with fleet step and joyous bound, thou oft hast borne me on; And sitting down by the green well, I'll pause, and sadly think, ""Twas here he bowed his glossy neck when last I saw him drink.” 66 10. When last I saw thee drink?-Away! the fevered dream is ō'er! I could not live a day, and know that we should meet no mōre; They tempted me, my beautiful! for hunger's power is strong— They tempted me, my beautiful! but I have loved too long. 11. Who said that I had given thee up? Who said that thou wert sold? "Tis false! 'tis false! my Arab steed! I fling them back their gold! Thus thus, I leap upon thy back, and scour the distant plains! Away! who overtakes us now shall claim thee for his pains. MRS. NORTON.3 TH 1 II. 27. DON FULANO. HERE they came! Gerrian's whole band of horses in full career! First their heads suddenly lifted above a crest of Mirage (mi räzh'), an optical illusion, arising from an unequal refraction in the lower strata of the atmosphere, and causing distant objects to appear double, as if reflected in a mirror or suspended in the air. It is frequently seen in deserts, presenting the appearance of water. 2 Scour, to run swiftly over. 3 Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, granddaughter of the famous Irish orator and dramatist, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was born in 1808. She is a poetess of unusual power, and has also written some prose works of fiction which are of more than ordinary excellence in point of style and careful delineation of character. the prai'rie; then they bûrst over, like the foam and spray of a black, stormy wave when a blåst strikes it, and wildly swept by us, with manes and tails flâring in the wind. It was magnificent.1 My heart of a horseman leaped in my breast. "Hurräh!" 2 I cried. "Hurrah 't is !" said Gerrian. 2. The herd dashed by in a huddle, making for the eorral. Just behind, aloof from the rush and scamper of his less noble brethren, came the black--my purchase. It was grand to see a horse that understood and respected himself so perfectly. One, too, that meant the world should know that he was the very chiefèst chief of his race, proud with the blood of a thousand kings. How måsterly he looked! How untamably he stepped! 3. The herd was galloping furiously. He disdained to break into a gallop. He trotted åfter, a hundred feet behind the hindmōst, with large and liberal action. And even at this hälf speed, easily overtaking his slower comrades, he from time to time paused, bounded in the air, tossed his head, flung out his legs, and then strode on again, writhing all over with suppressed power. 4. He was an American horse-so they distinguish in Californiä one brought from the old States—a superb1 young animal, perfectly black, without spot upon him, except whêre a flake of foam from his indignant 5 nostril had caught upon his flank. A thorough-bred horse, with the perfeet tail and silky mane of a noble race. Hard after him came José, the herdsman, on a fåst mustang. As he rode, he whirled his lasso with easy turn of the wrist. 6 5. The black, trotting still, and halting still to curʼvet and 1 Mag nif'i cent, on a grand scale; grand in appearance. 2 Hurrah (họ rä'), a shout of joy, or triumph, or applause. 3 Cŏr'ral, an inclosure or yard, especially for cattle, near a house. 4 Su perb', grand; rich; showy. 5 In digʻnant, greatly provoked, as when a person is excited by unjust treatment, or a mean action; angry. * Mus'tang, the wild horse of the prairies in Mexico, California, &c. 'Lǎs'so, a rope or cord with a noose, used for catching wild horses, and other animals. 8 Curvet (ker'vet), to leap as a horse, when he raises both his fore legs at once, equally advanced, and, as his fore legs are falling, raises his hind legs, so that all of his legs are in the air at once. |