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Article SCENES IN AMERICA. ← Page 3 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scenes In America.
a sound was heard but that of the trampling of our horses , or the crackling of the hushes through which we sometimes past . Presently the grove opened , and we approached a large field of Indian corn , or maize , whose stalks shoot up twelve or fifteen feet high , and whose long leaves bend out from their stems like plumes , making this tlie most beautiful and luxuriant plant that is cultivated by man . On the far side of the field , where the ground was considerably elevated , was a strip of grassy looking green , and on it stood the old hunter ' s cabins . Under other circumstances I could
have greatly enjoyed the extreme beauty and repose ofthe scene before me ; but feeling that in a few minutes I must participate in the meeting between Ball and his family , my sympathy with him became too painfully absorbing . Our path—for wc had found one beaten near the fence—wound round the corn-field until we approached very near to the house , when it struck off into a road leading hy Ball's door . He preferred making our way through the tangled brushwood to following the path into the roadlest we
, might encounter some of his neighbours . It seems , he had already laid out iu his mind the plan he was to pursue ; a part of which was to select certain neighbours to see the dead body , and receive first the intelligence of the affair . Ball led the way through the thicket ; the bushes had hardly began to
crackle before his horse when he encountered the furious barking of three en * four dogs , that , sensible of the approach of strangers , came running to meet us ; he halloed at them and drove them back , in ivhich he was aided by two female voices—those of his wife and daughter—who were in the road before their dwelling milking the cows . This drew their attention to tho part of tlie thicket from which Ball was emerging . Seeing her husband covered with blood and a dead body hanging across the back of the colt , the mother at once supposed some horrible accident had deprived her
son of his life . She gave a piercing scream , and ran distractedly to meet them . " Polly , " said Ball in a loud voice , " this is Tom Hinkle . " " Where ' s Jack ? where ' s my child ? " demanded "the mother . " Here , mammy , " cried Jack , as we came out of the thicket , hardly able , poor lad , to cling longer to the saddle . " Oh , my child , my child ! " and she flew to him . " Oh , what's the matter ? AVhere ar * hurtdarlin' ?"
ye , " Only my leg , mammy , not much . " " Thank God , thank God you ' re not killed , " cried the mother , whilst site clasped his hand in both hers , and trembled most violently . Ball still remained close to his dead charge , and looked on ; the daughter , pale and scarcely less affected than her mother , stood like a statue near the fence ; and the smaller children about the fence stared at the scene in overwhelmed
amazement . " Stranger , " said Ball , "just help Jack off , an' Polly an' Susan 'ill help him in the house . " I did so ; and they , with great effort , assisted Jack into the house . Ball and I then untied Hinkle ' s body , with considerable difficulty lifted him over the fence into the yard , and carried him into a different part of the house from that in which Jack and the rest of the family were ; or rather , into the other house . In this country , even the poorest people usually build two log cabins , about ten or fifteen feet apart , ivhich are
connected together by a continuation of the roof and the rough boarded ground floor . The doors into the houses often open from these broad passages , as was the case here . The room into which we carried the body contained a bed , a few chairs , a rough table , a small looking glass , a spinning-wheel , and other simple articles of furniture ; but every thing was perfectly clean and arranged in the most careful order . It was evidently tbe " better apartment . " Here we laid the corpse upon the floor in the middle of the room , closed the door , and left it .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scenes In America.
a sound was heard but that of the trampling of our horses , or the crackling of the hushes through which we sometimes past . Presently the grove opened , and we approached a large field of Indian corn , or maize , whose stalks shoot up twelve or fifteen feet high , and whose long leaves bend out from their stems like plumes , making this tlie most beautiful and luxuriant plant that is cultivated by man . On the far side of the field , where the ground was considerably elevated , was a strip of grassy looking green , and on it stood the old hunter ' s cabins . Under other circumstances I could
have greatly enjoyed the extreme beauty and repose ofthe scene before me ; but feeling that in a few minutes I must participate in the meeting between Ball and his family , my sympathy with him became too painfully absorbing . Our path—for wc had found one beaten near the fence—wound round the corn-field until we approached very near to the house , when it struck off into a road leading hy Ball's door . He preferred making our way through the tangled brushwood to following the path into the roadlest we
, might encounter some of his neighbours . It seems , he had already laid out iu his mind the plan he was to pursue ; a part of which was to select certain neighbours to see the dead body , and receive first the intelligence of the affair . Ball led the way through the thicket ; the bushes had hardly began to
crackle before his horse when he encountered the furious barking of three en * four dogs , that , sensible of the approach of strangers , came running to meet us ; he halloed at them and drove them back , in ivhich he was aided by two female voices—those of his wife and daughter—who were in the road before their dwelling milking the cows . This drew their attention to tho part of tlie thicket from which Ball was emerging . Seeing her husband covered with blood and a dead body hanging across the back of the colt , the mother at once supposed some horrible accident had deprived her
son of his life . She gave a piercing scream , and ran distractedly to meet them . " Polly , " said Ball in a loud voice , " this is Tom Hinkle . " " Where ' s Jack ? where ' s my child ? " demanded "the mother . " Here , mammy , " cried Jack , as we came out of the thicket , hardly able , poor lad , to cling longer to the saddle . " Oh , my child , my child ! " and she flew to him . " Oh , what's the matter ? AVhere ar * hurtdarlin' ?"
ye , " Only my leg , mammy , not much . " " Thank God , thank God you ' re not killed , " cried the mother , whilst site clasped his hand in both hers , and trembled most violently . Ball still remained close to his dead charge , and looked on ; the daughter , pale and scarcely less affected than her mother , stood like a statue near the fence ; and the smaller children about the fence stared at the scene in overwhelmed
amazement . " Stranger , " said Ball , "just help Jack off , an' Polly an' Susan 'ill help him in the house . " I did so ; and they , with great effort , assisted Jack into the house . Ball and I then untied Hinkle ' s body , with considerable difficulty lifted him over the fence into the yard , and carried him into a different part of the house from that in which Jack and the rest of the family were ; or rather , into the other house . In this country , even the poorest people usually build two log cabins , about ten or fifteen feet apart , ivhich are
connected together by a continuation of the roof and the rough boarded ground floor . The doors into the houses often open from these broad passages , as was the case here . The room into which we carried the body contained a bed , a few chairs , a rough table , a small looking glass , a spinning-wheel , and other simple articles of furniture ; but every thing was perfectly clean and arranged in the most careful order . It was evidently tbe " better apartment . " Here we laid the corpse upon the floor in the middle of the room , closed the door , and left it .