Yawcob Strauss and Other Poems/A Trapper's Story


 * "Twas a moonlight night," the trapper began,
 * As we lay by the bright camp-fire, —
 * " Come, fill up your pipes, and pile on the brands,
 * And gather a little nigher,—


 * "'Twas a moonlight night when Bet and I —
 * Bet, she's the old mare, you know —
 * Started for camp on our lonely route,
 * O'er the dreary waste of snow.


 * "I had been to the 'clearing' that afternoon
 * For powder and ball, and whiskey too;
 * For game was plenty, furs in demand,
 * And plenty of hunting and trapping to do.


 * "I had no fear of the danger that lurked
 * In the region through which my journey lay,
 * Till Bet of a sudden pricked up her ears,
 * And sniffed the air in a curious way.


 * "I knew at once what the danger was
 * As Bet struck out at a 'forty gait:
 * 'Twas life or death for the mare and me,
 * And all I could do was to trust to fate.


 * "Wolves on our track, ten miles from home!
 * A pleasant prospect that, — eh, boys?
 * I could see them skulking among the trees,
 * And the woods re-echoed their hideous noise.


 * "At last, as their numbers began to swell,
 * They bolder grew, and pressed us close:
 * So ' Old Pill-Driver' I brought to bear,
 * And gave the leader a leaden dose.


 * "Now, you must know, if you draw the blood
 * On one of the sneaking, ravenous crew,
 * The rest will turn on the double-quick,
 * And eat him up without more ado.


 * "This gave me a chance to load my gun,
 * With just a moment to breathe and rest;
 * When on they came! a-gaining fast,
 * Though Bet was doing her level best.




 * "I began to think it was getting hot.
 * 'Pill-Driver,' says I, ' this will never do:
 * Talk to 'em again!' You bet she did;
 * And right in his tracks lay number two.


 * "Well, boys, to make a long story short,
 * I picked them off till but one was left;
 * But he was a whopper, you'd better believe, —
 * A reg'lar mammoth in size and heft.


 * "Yes, he was the last of the savage pack;
 * For, as they had followed the nat'ral law,
 * They had eaten each other as fast as they fell,
 * Till all were condensed in his spacious maw."