Scouting with Kit CarsonTomlinson, Everett T. (Everett Titsworth)
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Scouting with Kit Carson
Tomlinson, Everett T. (Everett Titsworth)
Carson, Kit, 1809-1868 -- Juvenile fiction
It was now late in the afternoon. Reuben was aware that he was not only
tired, but also hungry. It was necessary for him to obtain something to
eat, although he was uncertain where food was to be found. That, like
certain other disagreeable facts, however, must be faced.
Near the little brook he suddenly saw a deer approaching from the upper
part of the gorge. A moment later he was aware that it was a doe
leading her fawn to the brook for a drink. Reuben, who had been seated
motionless, had not been discovered by the timid creatures, and as the
wind was blowing toward the valley below him the keen-scented animals
had not noticed his presence.
Here was his supper sent directly to him!
The sight of the graceful little fawn, however, caused Reuben to
hesitate. He hated to shoot the pretty little creature. He watched the
fawn as it glanced up into its mother’s face with an expression that
was as filled with affection as that which he had seen sometimes in the
face of a child. Already he had raised his rifle to his shoulder, but
for some reason he did not shoot. The sudden loosening of a stone by
his foot produced a sound which made the two animals look quickly in
his direction, and instantly he was aware that he had been discovered.
For a moment the doe anxiously gazed at the intruder, and then like a
flash she was gone, followed by the fawn. The supper which had come to
him almost miraculously was lost, and for a moment Reuben was inclined
to blame himself for yielding to his feeling of sympathy for the fawn.
And yet what was he to do for his supper? Carelessly he advanced to the
border of the brook and looked with interest at the hoof-prints of the
doe and the fawn. He was aware that there were occasional pools in the
little stream, and as he glanced into one he had a momentary vision of
a fish darting under the shadow of the overhanging bank. Reuben had
never heard of mountain trout, but the sight of the fish instantly
suggested a plan by which he might be able to obtain his supper.
A few yards below the place where he was standing the stream narrowed
until it was not more than two feet wide. Quickly he rolled some of the
loose stones to the place so that when they fell into the water they
served as a barrier in the stream. When a half-dozen stones had been
placed in the narrow neck of water Reuben cut a good sized club, and,
going up the stream a short distance, stepped into the water. As he
advanced he shouted and struck the water and was positive that several
times he saw fish dart swiftly down the stream before him. Proceeding
cautiously and using his club all the time, he soon drew near the dam
he had made. As he did so he began to leap up and down in the water and
shout and strike the bank as well as the stream with his club.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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