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Show 38 THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON TRAIL· waded brooks and pools of water; we traversed pra1nes as green as an emerald, expanding before us for mile after mile ; wider and more wild than the wastes Mazeppa rode over: Man nor brute, Nor dint of hoof, nor print of foot, Lay in the wild luxuriant oil; No sign of travel ; none o [ toil ; Tho very air was mute.' Riding in advance, as we passed over one of these great plains, we looked back and saw the line of scattered horsemen stretching for a mile or more; and far in the rear, against the horizon, the white wagons creeping slowly along. 'I-Jere we are at last!' shouted the Captain. And in truth we had struck upon the traces of a large body of horse. We turned joyfully and followed this new course, with tempers somewhat improved; and toward sunset encamped on a high swell of the prairie, at the foot of which a lazy stream soaked along through clumps of rank grass. It was getting dark. We turned the horses loose to feed. 'Drive down the tent-pickets hard,' said Henry Chatillon, 'it is going to blow.' We did so, and secured the tent as well as we could; for the sky had changed totally, and a fresh damp smell in the wind warned us that a stormy night was likely to succeed the hot clear day. The prairie also wore a now aspect, and its vast swells had grown black and sombre under the shadow of the clouds. The thunder t>Oon began to growl at a distance. Picketing and hobbling the horses among the rich grass at the foot of the slope, where we encamped, we gained a shelter just as the rain hogan to fall; and sat at the opening of the tent, watching the proceedings of the Captain. In defiance of the rain, he was stalking among 'JUMPING OFF.' 39 the horses, wrapped in an old Scotch plaid. An extreme solicitude tormented him, lest some of his favorites should escape, or some accident should befall them ; and he cast an anxious eye toward three wolves who were sneaking along over the dreary surface of the plain, as if he dreaded some hostile demonstration on their part. On the next morning we had gone but a mile or two, when we came to an extensive belt of woods, through the midst of which ran a stream, wide, deep, and of an appearance particularly muddy and treacherous. Delorier was in advance with his cart; he jerked his pipe from his mouth, lashed · his mules, and poured forth a volley of Canadian ejaculations. In plunged the cart, but midway it stuck fast. Delorier leaped out kneedeep in water, and by dint of sacres and a vigorous application of the whip, he urged the mules out of the slough. The.n approached the long team and heavy wagon of our friends; but it paused on the brink. 'Now my advice is -,' began the Captain, who had been anxiously contemplating the muddy gulf. 'Drive on ! ' cried R.-- But vVright, the muleteer, apparently had not as yet decided the point in his own mind ; and he sat still in his seat on one of the shaft-mules, whistling in a low contemplative strain to hirnself. 'My advice is,' resumed the Captain, 'that we unload; for I'll bet any man five pounds that if we try to go through, we shall stick fast.' 'By the powers, we shall stick fast!' echoed Jack, the Captain's brother, shaking his large head with an air of firm conviction. |