Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 3Sylvester, Charles Herbert
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Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 3
Sylvester, Charles Herbert
Children's literature; Literature -- Collections
Funny figures they cut! Franz and Jack had each a young kid slung on
his back, so that the four legs, tied together, stuck out under their
chins.
Fritz's game bag looked remarkably queer--round lumps, sharp points,
and an occasional movement seemed to indicate a living creature or
creatures within.
"Hurrah for the chase, father!" cried Jack, "Nothing like real hunting
after all. And just to see how Storm and Grumble go along over a
grassy plain! It is perfectly splendid! We soon tired out the little
antelopes, and were able to catch them."
"Yes, father," said Franz; "and Fritz has two Angora rabbits in his
bag, and we wanted to bring you some honey. Only think! such a clever
bird--a cuckoo, showed us where it was!"
"My brothers forget the chief thing," said Fritz. "We had driven the
little herd of antelopes right through the Gap into our territory; and
there they are, all ready for us to hunt when we like---or to catch
and tame!"
"We had a splendid ride," said Fritz, "down Glen Verdant, and away to
the defile through our Rocky Barrier, and the morning was so cool and
fresh that our steeds galloped along, nearly the whole way, at the top
of their speed. When we had passed through the Gap we moderated our
furious pace and kept our eyes open on the lookout for game; we then
trotted slowly to the top of a grassy hill, from whose summit we saw
two herds of animals, whether antelopes, goats, or gazelles, we did
not know, grazing by the side of the stream below us. We were about to
gallop down and try to get a shot at them, when it struck me that it
would be wiser to try and drive the whole herd through the Gap into
our own domain, where they would be shut up, as it were, in a park,
free and yet within reach. Down the hill we rode as hard as we could
go, formed in a semicircle behind the larger herd--magnificent
antelopes--and, aided by the dogs, with shouts and cries drove them
along the stream toward the Gap; as we came near the opening they
appeared inclined to halt and turn, like sheep about to be driven into
the butcher's yard; and it was all we could do to prevent them from
bolting past us; but at length one made a rush at the opening, and the
rest following, they were soon all on the other side of the frontier,
and inhabitants of New Switzerland.
"We stretched a long line right across the defile and strung on it
feathers and rags and all sorts of other things, which danced and
fluttered in the wind, and looked so strange that I am perfectly
certain that the herd will never attempt to pass it."
"Well done," said I. "I am glad to see that you remember what you have
read. The antelopes are welcome to New Switzerland, but, my boy," I
added, "I cannot say the same for the rabbits you have here; they
increase so rapidly that if you establish a colony of the little
wretches your next difficulty will be to get rid of them."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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