The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1876-01-28
Chased by Cattle.

In the February installment of Gabriel
Conrny (Scribner'- Monthly Bret Harte
gives the following description of how
one of his characters, Arthur Poinsett.
wandering out from the walls of the
Blessed Trinity" was surrounded by
cattle. II has been pronounced a Singh
lArly faithful bit of description by per-
sons who had crossed the plains:
Possibly something else caused him
for the moment To dismiss her from his
mind. During his rapid walk he had
noticed, as an accidental, and by TO
means an essential feature of the bleak
landscape, the vast herds of crawling,
pnrposeless cattle. An entirely n W and
distinct impression was now forming IT.
self in his naciousness-nameiy, that
they no longer were pDrposeless, vagrani,
and wandering, hut were actually obey
ing n certain definite law of attraction,
and were moving deliberately toward an
equally definite object. And that OBJ
jrct was HIMSELF
Look where he would; before. behind,
on either sids,-nnrth. east, south, west,
- on the bleak hill-tops. on the slope Of
the JaLdd. across the dried mp arroyo,
there were the same converging lines of
slowly moving objects toward a single
focnr-himselG Although walking
briskly, and with a certain defniteness
"f purpose, he was apparently the only
Enchanting, fixed, and Limited point in
the now active landscape. Everything
that rose above the dead, barren level
was now moving slowly. irreSiStibIy, in
siinctively, bnt Enthusiastically, toward
one common center-himseln Alone
and unsupported, he was the helpless,
nnconscions nucleus Of a slowly ,ather-
ing force, almost Unreasonable in its
immensely and powerI
AT first the idea was amusing and gro
tesque. Then il became picturesque |
Then it became something for practical
consideration. And then-hut moi |
with the quick and unerring instincts Of
powerful will, he choked down the
next consideration before it had time to |
fasten upon or paralyze his strength. |
He stopped and turned. The Rancho
Of the Blessed Trinity was gonei Had
it suddenly sunk in the earth, or had he |
diverged from his path? Neither; he
had simply walked over the little eleva-
tion in the plain berides the arroyo and
corral, and had already left the Rancho
two miles behind him.
Ii was not the only surprise that came
npon him suddenly like blow between
the eyes. The same mysterious attrac-
tion had been operating in his rear, and
when he turned to retrace his steps to-
ward the Mission, he faced the staring
eyes Of hundred bulls not fifty yards
away. As he faced them, the nearest
turned, the next rank followed their ex-
ample, the next the same, and the next,
until IN the distance he could see the
movement repeated with military pre-
cision and sequence. With sense of
relief, that he put aside as quickly as
he had the sense of fear, he quickened
his pace, until the nearest bull ahead
broke into a gentle trot, which was COM
municated line by line to the cattle be-
yond, until the whole herd before him
like vast monotonous sea.
He continued on across the arroyo and
past the corral until the binding and
cloud of dust, raised by the
plunRing hoOfs of the moving mass be-
fore him, caused him to stop. A dull
of the plain-a sound that
at first might have been attributed to a
passing earthquake-now became so
distinct that he turned. Not twenty
yards behind him rose the advance wall
of another vast, tumultuous sea of toss
ing horns and undulating backs that had
been slowly following his retreat He
had forgotten that he was surrounded.
The nearest were now so close upon
him that he could observe them sepa-
rately. They were neither large, pow
erful, vindic. live, nor ferocious. On the
they were thin, wasted. hag-
gard, anxious beaats-economIcalIy
and gotten up, the better TO
~restle with a six months drought, oc-
casional famine, and the incessant buff !.
letting of the wind wild and nnsama.
Bile. but their staring eyes and nervous
limbs expressed only wonder and cnr-
ofity. And when he ran toward them !.
with a shout. they turned, as had the !,
'ihers. file by file, and rank by rank,
md in moment were, like the others.
m full retreat. Rather. let me say, re
reated as the others had retreated, for
when he faced Fbont again to retrace his
'tePs toward the Mission, he fronied the
1Ossy bucklers and inextricable horns of
hose he had driven only few moments
lgO before him. They mad availed
themselves Of his diversion with the
ear puard To refurn