Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/603

 1850-60.] FLORUS B. PLIMPTON. 587 O steady grew the strong arm, And the hunter's dark eye keen, As he saw the branching antlers Through the alder thickets green. A sharp, clear ring through the green- wood, And with mighty leap and bound, The pride of the western forest Lay bleeding on the ground. Then out from the leafy shadow A stalwart hunter sprang, And his unsheathed scalpknife glittering Against his rifle rang. " And who are you," quoth Lewis, " That come 'twixt me and mine ? " And his cheek was flushed with anger, As a Bacchant's flushed with wine. " What boots that to thy purpose ? " The stranger hotly said ; " I marked the prize when living, And it is mine when dead." Then their sinewy arms were grappled. And they wrestled long and well, Till stretched along the greensward The humbled hunter fell. Upspringing like a panther, In pain and wrath he cried, " Though your arms may be the stronger. Our rifles shall decide." " Stay, stranger," qucfth good Lewis, " The chances are not even ; "Who challenges my rifle Should be at peace with heaven. " Now take this rod of alder. And set by yonder tree. A hundred yards beyond me, And wait you there and see. " For he who dares such peril But hghtly holds his breath ; May his unshrived soul be ready To welcome sudden death ! " So the stranger took the alder, And wondering stood to view. While Wetzel's aim grew steady, And he cut the rod in two. " By heaven ! " the stranger shouted, " One only, far or nigh, Hath arms like the lithe young ash-tree. Or half so keen an eye ; And that is Lewis Wetzel : " Quoth Lewis, " Here he stands ;" So they spoke in gentler manner. And clasped their friendly hands. Then talked, the mighty hunters, Till the summer dew descends. And they who met as foemen Rode out of the greenwood friends — Eode out of the leafy greenwood As rose the yellow moon. And the purple hills lay pleasantly In the softened air of June. 1 Experienced hunters, it is well known, find their way through pathless forests without the aid of a compass, guided only by the mosses and lichens which are partial to the north side of trees. - It was a custom among pioneer hunters (says Dodd- ridge), when on hunting expeditions, and in the vicinity of favorite hunting grounds, to thrust the forefinger into the mouth, and when heated, to hold it out in the air. By this means they readily detected the course of the wind.