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| 2017/05/31 12:18:24瀏覽71｜回應0｜推薦0 | |
| The nearest were not more than half a mile off, so wepicketed our horses under the sky line; and choosing thehollows, walked on till crawling became expedient. As istheir wont, the outsiders were posted on bluffs or knolls ina commanding position; these were old bulls. To myinexperience, our chance of getting a shot seemed small; forwe had to cross the dipping ground under the brow with her, he would sanction everything at oncehe answered. whereon thesentinels were lying. Three extra difficulties beset us -the prairie dogs (a marmot, so called from its dog-like barkwhen disturbed) were all round us, and bolted into theirholes like rabbits directly they saw us coming; two big greywolves, the regular camp followers of a herd, were prowlingabout in a direct line between us and the bulls; lastly, thecows, though up and feeding, were inconveniently out ofreach. (The meat of the young cow is much preferred to thatof the bull.) Jim, however, was confident. I followed myleader to a wink. The only instruction I didn't like when westarted crawling on the hot sand was "Look out forrattlesnakes."'The wolves stopped, examined us suspiciously, then quietlytrotted off. What with this and the alarm of the prairiedogs, an old bull, a patriarch of the tribe, jumped up andwalked with majestic paces to the top of the knoll. We layflat on our faces, till he, satisfied with the result of hisscrutiny, resumed his recumbent posture; but with his headturned straight towards us. Jim, to my surprise, stealthilycrawled on. In another minute or two we had gained a pointwhence we could see through the grass without being seen. Here we rested to recover breath. Meanwhile, three or fouryoung cows fed to within sixty or seventy yards of us. Unluckily we both selected the same animal, and both fired atthe same moment. Off went the lot helter skelter, all savethe old bull, whoand trotted up close toour hiding place. '"Look out for a bolt," whispered Jim, "but don't showyourself nohow till I tell you."'For a minute or two the suspense was exciting. One hardlydared to breathe. But his majesty saw us not, and turnedagain to his wives. We instantly reloaded; and the startledherd, which had only moved a few yards, gave us the chance ofa second shot. The first cow had fallen dead almost whereshe stood. The second we found at the foot of the hill, alsowith two bullet wounds behind the shoulder. The tongues,humps, and tender loins, with some other choice morsels, weresoon cut off and packed, and we returned to camp with a grandsupply of beef for Jacob's larder. |
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