Smoker, at this command, came bounding out of the copse, followed by the heifer, lowing most anxiously. Her lowing was responded to by the calf in the cart, and she ran wildly up to it.
"Drive off, Humphrey," said Jacob; "I think I heard the lowing of the heifer answered by some of the herd, and the sooner we are off the better."
Humphrey, who had the reins, drove off; the heifer followed, at one time running at the dog, at another putting her head almost into the hind part of the cart; but the lowing of the heifer was now answered by deeper tones, and Jacob said,
"Edward, get your gun ready, for I think the herd is following. Do not fire, however, until I tell you. We must be governed by circumstances. It won't do to lose the pony, or to run any serious risk, for the sake of the heifer and calf. Drive fast, Humphrey."
A few minutes afterward they perceived, at about a quarter of a mile behind them, not the whole herd, but a single bull, who was coming up at a fast trot, with his tail in the air, and tossing his head, lowing deeply in answer to the heifer.
"There's only one, after all," said Jacob; "I suppose the heifer is his favorite. Well, we can manage him. Smoker, come in. Come in, sir, directly," cried Jacob, perceiving that the dog was about to attack the bull.
Smoker obeyed, and the bull advanced till he was within a hundred yards.
"Now, Edward, do you fire firstaim for his shoulder. Humphrey, pull up."
Humphrey stopped the pony and the bull continued to advance, but seemed puzzled who to attack, unless it was the dog. As soon as the bull was within sixty yards, Edward fired, and the animal fell down on its knees, tearing the ground with its horns.
"That will do," said Jacob; "drive on again, Humphrey; we will have a look at that fellow by-and-by. At present we had better get home, as others may come. He's up again, but he is at a stand-still. I have an idea that he is hit hard."
The cart drove on, followed by the heifer, but no more of the wild herd made their appearance, and they very soon gained the cottage.
"Now, then, what shall we do?" said Jacob. "Come, Humphrey, you have had all the ordering of this, and have done it well."
"Well, Jacob, we must now drive the cart into the yard, and shut the gate upon the cow, till I am ready."
"That's easy done, by setting Smoker at her," replied Jacob; "but, mercy on us, there's Alice and Edith running out!the heifer may kill them. Go back, Alice, run quite into the cottage, and shut the door till we come."
Alice and Edith hearing this, and Edward also crying out to them, made a hasty retreat to the cottage. Humphrey then backed the cart against the paling of the yard, so as to enable Edward to get on the other side of it, ready to open the gate. Smoker was set at the heifer, and, as before, soon engaged her attention; so that the gate was opened and the cart drove in, and the gate closed again, before the heifer could follow.
"Well, Humphrey, what next?"
"Why, now lift the calf out, and put it into the cow-house. I will go into the cow-house with a rope and a slip-knot at the end of it, get upon the beam above, and drop it over her horns as she's busy with the calf, which she will be as soon as you let her in. I shall pass the end of the rope outside for you to haul up when I am ready, and then we shall have her fast, till we can secure her properly. When I call out Ready, do you open the gate and let her in. You can do that and jump into the cart afterward, for fear she may run at you; but I don't think that she will, for it's the calf she wants, and not either of you."
As soon as Humphrey was ready with the rope, he gave the word, and the gate was opened; the cow ran in immediately, and, hearing her calf bleat, went into the cow-house, the door of which was shut upon her. A minute afterward Humphrey cried out to them to haul upon the rope, which they did.
"That will do," said Humphrey from the inside; "now make the rope fast, and then you may come in."
They went in and found the heifer drawn close to the side of the cow-house by the rope which was round her horns, and unable to move her head.
"Well, Humphrey, that's very clever; but now what is to be done?"
"First, I'll saw off the tips of her horns, and then if she does run at us, she won't hurt us much. Wait till I go for the saw."
As soon as the ends of her horns were sawed off, Humphrey took another piece of rope, which he fastened securely round her horns, and then made the other end fast to the side of the building, so that the animal could move about a little and eat out of the crib.
"There," said Humphrey, "now time and patience must do the rest. We must coax her and handle her, and we soon shall tame her. At present let us leave her with the calf. She has a yard of rope, and that is enough for her to lick her calf, which is all that she requires at present. To-morrow we will cut some grass for her."
They then went out, shutting the cow-house door.
"Well, Humphrey, you've beat us after all, and have the laugh on your side now," said Jacob. "'Where there's a will, there's a way,' that's certain; and I assure you, that when you were making so much hay, and gathering so much litter, and building a cow-house, I had no more idea that we should have a cow than that we should have an elephant; and I will say that you deserve great credit for your way of obtaining it."
"That he certainly does," replied Edward. "You have more genius than I have, brother. But dinner must be ready, if Alice has done her duty. What think you Jacob, shall we after dinner go and look after that bull?"
"Yes, by all means. He will not be bad eating, and I can sell all I can carry in the cart at Lymington. Besides, the skin is worth money."
CHAPTER VI
Alice and Edith were very anxious to see the cow, and especially to see the calf; but Humphrey told them that they must not go near till he went with them, and then they should see it. After dinner was over, Jacob and Edward took their guns, and Humphrey put Billy in the cart and followed them. They found the bull where they left him, standing quite still; he tossed his head when they approached him, which they did carefully, but he did not attempt to run at them.
"It's my idea that he has nearly bled to death," said Jacob; "but there's nothing like making sure. Edward, put a bullet just three inches behind his shoulder, and that will make all safe."
Edward did so, and the animal fell dead. They went up to the carcass, which they estimated to weigh at least fifty stone.
"It is a noble beast," said Edward; "I wonder we never thought of killing one before?"
"They aren't game, Edward," replied Jacob.
"No, they are not now, Jacob," said Humphrey; "as you and Edward claim all the game, I shall claim the cattle as my portion of the forest. Recollect, there are more, and I mean to have more of them yet."
"Well, Humphrey, I give you up all my rights, if I have any,"
"And I, all mine," added Edward.
"Be it so. Some day you'll see what I shall do," replied Humphrey. "Recollect, I am to sell the cattle for my own self-advantage until I buy a gun, and one or two things which I want."
"I agree to that too, Humphrey," replied Jacob; "and now to skin the beast."
The skinning and quartering took up the whole afternoon, and Billy was heavy laden when he drew his cart home. The next day Jacob went to Lymington to sell the bull and the skin, and returned home well satisfied with the profit he had made. He had procured, as Humphrey requested, some milk-pans, a small churn, and milk-pail out of the proceeds, and had still money left. Humphrey told them that he had not been to see the heifer yet, as he thought it better not.
"She will be tame to-morrow morning, depend upon it," said he.
"She will be tame to-morrow morning, depend upon it," said he.
"But if you give her nothing to eat, will not the calf die?"
"Oh no, I should think not. I shall not starve her, but I will make her thankful for her food before she gets it. I shall cut her some grass to-morrow morning."
We may as well here say, that the next morning Humphrey went in to the heifer. At first she tossed about, and was very unruly. He gave her some grass, and patted her and coaxed her for a long while, till at last she allowed him to touch her gently. Every day for a fortnight he brought her food, and she became quieter every day, till at last if he went up to her, she never pushed with her horns. The calf became quite tame, and as the heifer perceived that the calf was quiet, she became more quiet herself. After the fortnight, Humphrey would not allow the heifer to receive any thing except from the hand of Alice, that the animal might know her well; and when the calf was a month old, Humphrey made the first attempt to milk her. This was resisted at first by kicking, but in the course of ten days she gave down her milk. Humphrey then let her loose for a few days to run about the yard, still keeping the calf in the cow-house, and putting the heifer in to her at night, milking her before the calf was allowed to suck. After this he adventured upon the last experiment, which was to turn her out of the yard to graze in the forest. She went away to some distance, and he was fearful that she would join the herd, but in the evening she came back again to her calf. After this he was satisfied, and turned her out every day, and they had no further trouble with her. He would not, however, wean the calf till the winter time, when she was shut up in the yard and fed on hay. He then weaned the calf, which was a cow calf, and they had no more trouble with the mother. Alice soon learned to milk her, and she became very tractable and good-tempered. Such was the commencement of the dairy at the cottage.
"Jacob," said Humphrey, "when do you go to Lymington again?"
"Why, I do not know. The end of August, as it is now, and the month of September, is not good for venison; and, therefore, I do not see what I shall have to go for."
"Well, I wish when you do go, you would get something for Alice and something for me."
"And what is it that Alice wants?"
"She wants a kitten."
"Well, I think I may find that. And what do you want, Humphrey?"
"I want a dog. Smoker is yours altogether; I want a dog for myself, to bring up after my own fashion."
"Well, I ought to look out for another dog: although Smoker is not old, yet one ought to have two dogs to one's gun in case of accident."
"I think so too," replied Edward; "see if you can get two puppies, one for Humphrey and one for myself."
"Well, I must not go to Lymington for them. I must cross the forest, to see some friends of mine whom I have not seen for a long while, and I may get some of the right sort of puppies there, just like Smoker. I'll do that at once, as I may have to wait for them, even if I do have the promise."
"May I go with you, Jacob?" said Edward.
"Why, I would rather not; they may ask questions."
"And so would I rather he would not, for he will shirk his work here."
"Why, what is there to do, Humphrey?"
"Plenty to do, and hard work, Edward; the acorns are fit for beating down, and we want a great many bushels for the pigs. We have to fatten three, and to feed the rest during the winter. I can not get on well with only Alice and Edith; so if you are not very lazy, you will stay with us and help us."
"Humphrey, you think of nothing but your pigs and farmyard."
"And you are too great a hunter to think of any thing but a stag; but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, in my opinion; and I'll make more by my farmyard than you ever will by the forest."
"Humphrey has nothing to do with the poultry and eggs, has he, Edward? they belong to Edith and me, and Jacob shall take them to Lymington and sell them for us, and get us some new clothes for Sunday, for these begin to look rather wornand no wonder."
"No, dearest, the poultry are yours, and I will sell them for you as soon as you please, and buy what you wish with the money," replied Jacob. "Let Humphrey make all the money he can with his pigs."
"Yes; and the butter belongs to me, if I make it," said Alice.
"No no," replied Humphrey; "that's not fair; I find cows, and get nothing for them. We must go halves Alice."
"Well, I've no objection to that," said Alice "because you find the cows and feed them. I made a pound of butter yesterday, just to try what I could do; but it's not firm, Jacob. How is that?"
"I have seen the women make butter, and know how, Alice; so next time I will be with you. I suppose you did not wash your butter-milk well out, nor put any salt in it?"
"I did not put any salt in it."
"But you must, or the butter will not keep."
It was arranged that Edward should stay at home to assist in collecting the acorns for the pigs, and that Jacob should cross the forest alone to see after the puppies, and he set off the next morning. He was away two days, and then returned; said that he had a promise of two puppies, and that he had chosen them; they were of the same breed as Smoker, but they were only a fortnight old, and could not be taken from the mother yet awhile, so that he had arranged to call again when they were three or four months old, and able to follow him across the forest. Jacob also said that he was very near being hurt by a stag that had made at himfor at that season of the year the stags were very dangerous and fiercebut that he had fired, and struck off one of the animal's horns, which made it turn.
"You must be careful, Edward, how you go about the forest now."
"I have no wish to go," replied Edward; "as we can not hunt, it is no use; but in November we shall begin again."
"Yes," replied Jacob, "that will be soon enough. To-morrow I will help you with the acorns, and the day afterward, if I am spared, I will take Alice's poultry to Lymington for her."
"Yes, and when you come back you will help me to churn for then I shall have a good deal of cream."
"And don't forget to buy the kitten, Jacob," said Edith.
"What's the good of a kitten?" said Humphrey, who was very busy making a bird-cage for Edith, having just finished one for Alice; "she will only steal your cream and eat up your birds."
"No, she won't; for we'll shut the door fast where the milk and cream are, and we'll hang the cages so high that Miss Puss won't be able to get at them."
"Well, then, a kitten will be useful," said Edward, "for she will teach you to be careful."
"My coat is a little the worse for wear, and so is yours, Edward. We must try if we can not, like Alice, find means to pay for another."
"Humphrey," said Jacob, "I'll buy all you want, and trust to you for paying me again as soon as you can."
"That's just what I want," replied Humphrey. "Then you must buy me a gun and a new suit of clothes first; when I've paid for them, I shall want some more tools, and some nails and screws, and two or three other things; but I will say nothing about them just now. Get me my gun, and I'll try what the forest will do for meespecially after I have my dog."
"Well, we shall see; perhaps you'll like to come out with me sometimes and learn woodcraft, for Edward knows as much as I do now, and can go out by himself."
"Of course I will, Jacob: I want to learn every thing."
"Well, there's a little money left in the bag yet, and I will go to Lymington to-morrow. Now I think it is time we were in bed; and if you are all as tired as I am, you will sleep soundly."
Jacob put into the cart the next day about forty of the chickens which Alice had reared; the others were kept to increase the number in the poultry-yard. They had cost little or nothing bringing up; for when quite young, they only had a little oatmeal cake, and afterward, with the potatoes which were left, they found themselves, as fowls can always do when they have a great range of ground to go over.