The Adventures of Daniel Boone: the Kentucky rifleman — John Shaqi
The Adventures of Daniel Boone: the Kentucky riflemanHawks, Francis L. (Francis Lister)
History
The Adventures of Daniel Boone: the Kentucky rifleman
Hawks, Francis L. (Francis Lister)
Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820; Frontier and pioneer life -- Kentucky; Kentucky -- History -- To 1792
One evening, with another young friend, he started out upon what is
called a "_fire-hunt_." Perhaps you do not know what this means. I will
explain it to you. Two people are always necessary for a fire-hunt. One
goes before, carrying a blazing torch of pitch-pine wood (or lightwood,
as it is called in the southern country), while the other follows behind
with his rifle. In this way the two hunters move through the forests.
When an animal is startled, he will stand gazing at the light, and his
eyes may be seen shining distinctly: this is called "_shining the
eyes_." The hunter with the rifle, thus seeing him, while the other
_shines_ him, levels his gun with steady aim, and has a fair shot. This
mode of hunting is still practised in many parts of our country, and is
everywhere known as a _fire-hunt_.
Boone, with his companion, started out upon such a hunt, and very soon
reached the woods skirting the lower end of Mr. Bryan's farm. It seems
they were on horseback, Boone being behind with the rifle. They had not
gone far, when his companion reined up his horse, and two eyes were seen
distinctly shining. Boone levelled his rifle, but something prevented
his firing. The animal darted off. Boone leaped from his horse, left his
companion, and instantly dashed after it. It was too dark to see
plainly, still he pursued; he was close upon its track, when a fence
coming in the way, the animal leaped it with a clear bound. Boone
climbed over as fast as he could with his rifle, but the game had got
ahead. Nothing daunted by this, he pushed on, until he found himself at
last not very far from Mr. Bryan's home. But the animal was gone. It was
a strange chase. He determined to go into Mr Bryan's house, and tell his
adventure. As he drew near, the dogs raised a loud barking, the master
came out, bade him welcome, and carried him into the house. Mr. Bryan
had scarcely introduced him to his family as "the son of his neighbor
Boone," when suddenly the door of the room was burst open, and in rushed
a little lad of seven, followed by a girl of sixteen years, crying out,
"O father! father! sister is frightened to death! She went down to the
river, and was chased by a panther!" The hunter and his game had met.
There stood Boone, leaning upon his rifle, and Rebecca Bryan before him,
gasping for breath. From that moment he continued to pursue it; Farmer
Bryan's house became a favorite resort for him; he loved it as well as
the woods. The business was now changed: Rebecca Bryan completely
_shined his eyes_; and after a time, to the great joy of themselves and
both families, Daniel Boone and Rebecca Bryan were married. It proved,
as you will see, a very happy marriage to both parties.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account