Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-11-17

The great army of locusts had passed on, |
leaving the earth strewn with their dead, |
but naked and dcsolate. The little stream
lets and runlets were tainted with the
smell and taste of their decaying bodies.
The grass was cropped, the herbs shorn
away, the lower leaves of the trees cut OFT
rs by the shears of = gardener. Except
inc the swine, cornfed, and two horses, l
could not keep 4 single hoOf about the
place. BullockS and milch- kline, desper
ate of restraint. had rovcd off in search OF
grass. The farmhouse, with its ruined
garden and fields laid bare, looked mex
pressibly gaunt and mournful; nor were
the spirits Of its proprietor ut n very high
pitch, was fairly beggared. Nothing
remained to me bat Il score or SO OF
swine; i few detected cocks and hens. i'll
cared for since | had lost my Welsh farm
servants; and about as much ready money
us would take me back to England.
Bat to England, for very shame's sake,
could not 60. l hal undertaken my
venture, high in hope, and confident in
my own ability TO beat down the difficult
ties in my path, and with what Il result,
The desert had poured forth its insect
lcgions, that grim " Northern Army" of
which the Hebrew prophet spoke three
thousand years ago, and Colorado now, rs
.Jud;ra then, was swept rs by L Bosom.
The gray hosts, from dawn to nightftll,
passed by in countless numbers, defvlng
man puny efforts to stem their formula
be march, until \ Sudden change of wind
and Il keen frost by night, checked the in
vasion, and whitencd the plains with the
carcasses of the invaders. But this wei
come alteration in the weather brought no
comfort to me. My cattle We're gone. My
fathers thousand pounds had vanished.
All hope Of winning Edith for my wife.
was n an end. The very farm in its pres
cnt condition was unsuitable. My best
| plan would be to abandon it, and, taking
nv choice of the life of \ minor, OF of that
OF 4 tcam>ter or herd>man. cndcavor to
earn u bare subsistence. OF one thing
was resolved. would not 20 back to be
Il prn,ioner on nv father. and burthen
on his narrow income. He would, poor
kind hearted man, have received me with
out Il word of rcproach, and have shared
his all with me- but | had too much man.
illness left in me to permit me to live IDLY
on his bounty. I'll pay off Cassie ~
such wa> my SOliloquy Us | lay down to
rest, on the eighth hight after the cessation
of the locu>t> po>>aTe-' sell what little
live stock remains, buy set of digger S
looi>, and he off to the Usage hills. 4
miner who is proof against the temptations
of strong drink and gambling may reason
ably expect TO wash ont pay dire there.
and perhaps to save y few ounces by the
end of The season" And then fell asleep.
and dreamed confu>c,llv, that | was at
home again. walking through the lcafy
Hampshire lanes by Edith's side; thea that
I hat
WAS Mazcppa, alone in the Ukraine will
derness. bound to the dying horse. and
myself half dead. How distinctly in my
dream. did seem to hear the ncighin5 of
the wild horses, that t-
IIa, it was no ,lelu>ion, that No fan
ced sound that forced itself upon my ear,
but 4. clear. Shrill neigh, answered by
many others, close ut hand. And rs sat
upright on my mattress, marvelllnT what
this could be, the negro. who had been the
first to awake, came hurryin- up. 4 kero-
, sene- lamp in his hand.
> .Lomc quick. Ma>sa Mn,hham.." he
: said. Wonderful sight surely. Cassie
tink. I'll the horses in de world
) And, indeed, when | hurried to the win
: dow. and tool down the pinewood shutter
: b-held L spectacle the ike of which can
l rarely have been Witnessed
The day was breaking. and by the cold
) LIGHT of early dawn | saw \ multitude o
: horses surrounding the farmhouse. Their,
they were, squ,dronS upon squadron>
: some closely crowded upon one another
rs they pressed into the yard. and forced
their way through the the frail fence o
t the garden. others dapplny the prairie il
, scattered groups NV first thought hac
been that we were bc>et bv armed ant
: mounted Indians Bat there was n(
: pumcl heads, or glancing spear points. to
: be seen. no taSsclled brides, or saddles o
n panther skin; while neither Cheyenne:
: nor Ar,pnhocs couli furnish so imposin.
: IN array of cavalry rs that which. through
the dim light, met my astonshed gaze.
SAW no riders. no trapping>. no signs o
. equine subsection 10 the will of man
J Nothing but shaggy names. and streaming
tails, and tossing heads. and tramplins
: feet un>hol, and cleaning eyes fixed Ii
: hall-timid wonder upon the unwonted
: sight Of the fences and ftrm-bulld
e nyS.
# So strange AMI unexpected was ;ht
J. sight; that for :. while | regarded It with
c sort of incrcdulouS establishment. unit
l. gradually the idea forced itself upon m'
4 that was in the presence OF a herd o
:, wild horses driven desperate by hunger
/ and coming towards the settlements, IL
: search of the pasture, which the open pral
: re. stripped by the locu-ts, could no long
o CT afford. That such wild horses stu
z roam the plains of the frontier. though II
Il numbers greatly diminished from those o
c which tn travellers OF forty years ;tG'
1t were wont to tell. WAS 4 well-known fact
S but had never before heard of any o
h them bcin. seen in the district. opene'
l. the door and went out amongst them, be
q iny careful to move slowly. so rs not t
ii alarm my strange vi>itants by any abrup
: gestures No doubt they were who'll
ic unused 10 the sight of man, bat famin
il seemed to have overpowered their lnstinc
tive dread of our species. for they mercl
st started Il little rs | drew near. ncighin
- shrilv and fixing their bright large eye
Il on me. with somewhat OF bescechln!
" expression, as ! thought. They We're q
:. all co!or,-pie5ald, black. bay, white
\, gray and chestnut, silvergray, however
# over the other hues; and although non
~ ~ exceeded fifteen hands in height, most {
p, them had the fleet limbs and small heac
II which they derived from their Spanisl
m Arabian ancestry All We're thin IN
# caunt. as from long fasting, and thel
y. was no mis,aking the cause of their unnl
I ural t,mcncss.
or "Collv, massy. If we had de who
W mob in dc st. Louis horse market. what
heap of dolars.' exclaimed Cassie. at m
" elbow and at the negro's words the sudlo
is notion flashed through my brain. Cou
ps no. repair my broken fortunes by tt
Sc help of the extraordinary windfall that ha
ed thus dropped in my way at the very nick
d. limce i WAS enough of Il judge OF hors'
tn to be aware that many of the animals b'
il fore me, if in better condition, would &
IS, we'll, while the worst represented u valr
Ike of ten to fifteen pounds. But then Slanc,
ut Ut the bare fields. the waste prairie. ar
40 shook my head. rs | made answer:
cr You forget. Cassie. that we have !
liz grass. 1t goes against me. sorely, to d
Vi ny these poor brutes the meal they beg {
Il. me in their dumb fashion, but the locus
it have not left Il single green blade bchil