The Free Rangers: A Story of the Early Days Along the MississippiAltsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
General
The Free Rangers: A Story of the Early Days Along the Mississippi
Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)
Frontier and pioneer life -- Juvenile fiction; Mississippi River -- Juvenile fiction
"All right," said Sol, "an' here's three more little jugs like it."
"What else do you find?" asked Henry.
"Oh, look at these, will you!" exclaimed Sol, holding up two splendid
double barreled duelling pistols of Spanish make.
"Now I'm sure that this is the boat of Alvarez himself," said Henry. "Such
fine things as these could belong only to the Commander. Those are
duelling pistols, Sol, but they can be made mighty useful, too, for our
defense in case of a pinch. We'll keep them, too."
The shiftless one put them back and opening another locker uttered a
little cry of delight.
"A hull carpenter shop!" he exclaimed. "Jest look, Henry! A fine axe,
hammers an' hatchets, an' saws an' augers an' a lot o' other things
pow'ful useful to fellers like us that have to cut an' bore their own way
out here in the woods. This is shorely one o' them gall-yuns that Paul
tells us about, an' I guess we're about ez highfalutin' an lucky pirates
ez any o' them."
"You're right, Sol," said Henry. "This boat is a great find, and it's
lawful prize as they began the war upon us by seizing Paul. Keep on
looking, Sol."
"Here's some beautiful blankets," continued the shiftless one. "Guess they
were made to trade with the Injuns. But it's more'n likely that this here
most gorg-y-us one will, on occasions, shelter, warm, purtect an'
otherwise care fur the deservin' body o' one Solomon Hyde, a highly
valooable citizen o' the new country they call Kentucky. An' say, Henry,
what do you call this?"
His voice took a rapidly rising inflection, as he held up a glittering
garment, puffed with magnificent lace.
"That," said Henry, "is what they call a doublet, and I should say that it
is the finest one belonging to Captain Alvarez. Oh, won't he be angry!"
Sol slipped off his hunting shirt, and slipped on the doublet.
"It's a little tight in the shoulders," he said, "but I could wear it in a
pinch, that is, I guess I'd hev to wear it in a pinch. Say, Henry, ain't I
a beauty?"
He stood up in the boat and turned slowly around and around, his arms
extended and the doublet glittering. Henry leaned against the side of the
boat and laughed.
"It doesn't suit you, Sol," he replied, "you're a fine looking man, but
it's in your own way, not the Spanish way."
Sol took off the garment, folded it up carefully, and put it back in the
locker.
"Anyway, I'm goin' to claim it," he said. "I want it to make Jim Hart
jealous. An', Henry, thar's a lot more things here, a little tent all
rolled up, some bottles o' medicine, some more clothes, two big bottles
o' brandy, and a whole lot o' house-keepin' truck, like pins an' needles
an' thread, an' them things that kin be pow'ful useful to us on a long
journey. An' jumpin' Jehoshaphat, Henry, here's a little bag o' silver an'
gold!"
"Put that back!" said Henry hastily. "Put it back, Sol! Their goods we'll
borrow as fair spoil, but we won't touch their money. Put it back and none
of us will ever take that bag out again."
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