Does your heart bound in you like a cannon ball that wants to find its way out, and can’t, eh?”
Crusoe put his snout against Marston’s cheek, and in the excess of his joy the lad threw his arms round the dog’s neck and hugged it vigorously—a piece of impulsive affection which that noble animal bore with meekness, and which Grumps regarded with idiotic satisfaction.
Chapter XXVII.—The Feast at the Block-house.
THE day of Dick’s arrival with his companions was a great day in the annals of the Mustang Valley, and Major Hope resolved to celebrate it by an impromptu festival at the old block-house; for many hearts in the valley had been made glad that day, and he knew full well that, under such circumstances, some safety-valve must be devised for the escape of excitement.
A messenger was sent round to invite the population to assemble without delay in front of the block-house. With backwood-like celerity the summons was obeyed; men, women, and children hurried towards the point, wondering, what was the major’s object in calling them together.
They were not long in doubt. The first sight that presented itself, as they came trooping up the slope in front of the log-hut, was an ox roasting whole before a gigantic bonfire. Tables were being extemporized on the broad level plot in front of the gate. Other fires there were, of smaller dimensions, on which sundry steaming pots were placed, and various joints of wild horse, bear, and venison roasted, and sent forth a savoury odour as well as a pleasant hissing noise. The inhabitants of the block-house were self-taught brewers, and the result of their recent labours now stood displayed in a row of goodly casks of beer—the only beverage with which the dwellers in these far-off regions were wont to regale themselves.
The whole scene, as the cooks moved actively about upon the lawn, and children romped round the fires, and settlers came flocking through the forests, might have recalled the revelry of merry England in the olden time, though the costumes were different from those of old England.
No one of all the band assembled there on that day of rejoicing required to ask what it was all about. Had any one been in doubt for a moment, a glance at the centr
