登陆注册
15324900000047

第47章

"The ounce o' lead that done that piece o' work," said Abe, "was better'n a horseload o' gold.A few more used with as good judgement would bring the rebellion to an end in short meter.""Yes," answered Kent, "he's one of the Chivalry; one of the main props; one of the fellows who are trying to bring about Secession in the hopes of being Dukes, or Marquises, or Earls--High Keepers of His Majesty Jeff.Davis's China Spittoons, or Grand Custodians of the Prince of South Carolina's Plug Tobacco, when the Southern Confederacy gains its independence.""Well," said Abe, raising the Rebel's hat on the point of his bayonet, and laying it across the corpse's face, "he's changed bosses much sooner than he expected.Jeff.Davis's blood-relation, who presides over the Sulphur Confederacy, will put on his shoulder-straps with a branding-iron, and serve up his rations for him red-hot.I only wish he had more going along with him to keep him company.""Save your feelings against the Secessionists for expression with your gun in the next fight, and come along.I'm getting thirstier every minute."They walked on rapidly for a couple or three hours, without finding much encouragement in their search.The rugged mountain sides were but thinly peopled, and the few poor cabins they saw in the distance they decided were not promising enough of results to justify clambering up to where they were perched.At last, almost wearied out, they halted for a little while to rest and scan the interminable waves of summits that stretched out before them.

"Ah," said Kent, rising suddenly, "let's go on.Hope dawns at last.I smell apples.That's a perfume my nose never mistakes.

We're near an orchard.Where there's an orchard there's likely to be a pretty good style of house, and where in Kentucky there's a good style of house there's a likelihood of being plenty of good whisky.Now there's a train of brilliant inductive reasoning that shows that nature intended me to be a great natural philosopher.

Come on, Abe."

The smell of apples certainly did grow more palpable as they proceeded, and Abe muttered that even if they did not get any thing to drink they would probably get enough of the fruit to make an agreeable change in their diet.

They emerged from the woods into a cleared space where a number of roads and paths focused.To the right was a little opening in the mountain-side, hardly large enough to be called a valley, but designated in the language of the region as a "hollow." At its mouth stood a couple of diminutive log-cabins, of the rudest possible construction, and roofed with "clapboards" held in place by stones and poles.A long string of wooden troughs, supported upon props, conducted the water from an elevated spring to the roof of one of the cabins, and the water could be seen issuing again from underneath the logs at one side of the cabin.A very primitive cider mill--two wooden rollers fastened in a frame, and moved by a long sapling sweep attached to one of them--stood near.The ground was covered with rotting apple pomace, from which arose the odor that had reached Kent's nose.

"Hello!" said the latter, "here's luck; here's richness! We've succeeded beyond our most sanguine expectations, as the boy said, who ran away from school to catch minnows, and caught a ducking, a bad cold and a licking.We've struck an apple-jack distillery, and as they've been at work lately, they've probably left enough somewhere to give us all that we can drink."Abe's sigh was eloquent of a disbelief that such a consummation was possible, short of the blissful hereafter.

Inside of one of the cabins they found a still about the size of a tub, with a worm of similar small proportions, kept cook by the flow from the spring.Some tubs and barrels, in which the lees of cider were rapidly turning to vinegar, gave off a fuity, spirituous odor, but for awhile their eager search did not discover a bit of the distilled product.At last, Kent, with a cry of triumph, dragged from a place of cunning concealment a small jug, stopped with a corncob.He smelled it hungrily.

"Yes, here is some.It's apple-jack, not a week old, and as rank as a Major General.Phew! I can smell every stick they burned to distil it.Abe, watch me closely while I drink.I magnanimously take the lead, out of consideration for you.If I ain't dead in five minutes, you try it.""O, stop monkeying, and drink," was the impatient answer.

Kent put the jug to his mouth and took a long draught."Shade of old Father Noah, the first drunkard," he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes, "another swig like that would pull out all the rivets in my internal pipings.Heavens! it went down like pulling a cat out of a hole by the tail.I'm afraid to wipe my mouth, lest my breath burn a hole in the sleeve of my blouse."Three-quarters of an hour later, the spirits in the jug were lowering and those in the men rising with unequal rapidity.Under the influence of the fiery stimulant, Kent's sanguine temperament boiled and bubbled over.Imagination painted the present and future in hues of dazzling radiance.Everything was as delightful as it could be now, and would become more charming as time rolled on.But with Abe Bolton drinking tended to develop moroseness into savagery.

同类推荐
  • 重黎

    重黎

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 金刚场陀罗尼经

    金刚场陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 正一法文修真旨要

    正一法文修真旨要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Murat

    Murat

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 广百论释论

    广百论释论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 重生之永远的加斯特斯
  • 我存在异界

    我存在异界

    我本身是个特战队员,在一次爆炸后我来到了异界。异界的不适应让我成为了别人的奴隶角斗士,在逃亡中被狼王用首领的传承变成了狼人,也成了狼族人的首领。在机缘巧合下又认识了泥克族人,又被泥克族人奉为神使。拥有凤凰、魔虫皇母两大神阶宠物,在穿过迷雾之海后得到了当地种族的效忠。手握一只强大军队的我到底是横扫整个异界大陆还是拯救即将到来的灾难呢?且看我的异世行。
  • 全系魔法师:逆天五小姐

    全系魔法师:逆天五小姐

    傲天大陆,强者为尊,魔法师盛行,大家族羽家却出了个废物五小姐,成为所有人的笑柄,星魂斗转,神魂归位,凤凰涅槃以后,注定翱翔九天,掀起一番惊涛骇浪,丹药宝器在手,神兽强者追随,携手那世间最至高无上的男人,笑看天下……
  • 废材宝妈的抓狂生活

    废材宝妈的抓狂生活

    从少女到女人再到宝妈,说起来也就这简单的几个字,可真的经历了怎样的蜕变,只有自己知道……谨以此文送给所有亲爱的宝妈们
  • 霸道校草独特的爱

    霸道校草独特的爱

    第一次看见女主,她却没被他的帅给迷住,他给她表白时,她一口回绝,只因她喜欢别人,他是否能俘获她的心?请期待!如果我有写不好的地方!请说!谢谢
  • 我不是外挂

    我不是外挂

    穿越了,还直接成神了,这种好事儿摊在谁身上,恐怕都会大笑三天,改名傲天,气焰滔天,自此逆天。可是,摊上这种好事儿的他,却怨气冲天。为什么被困在神庙附近不得而出?为什么无法被人看到、听到、摸到?宅了19年,马上就要魂飞魄散的时候,好不容易遇到一个能看到我的姑娘,这姑娘还特别不待见我!费了好大劲儿才和她混熟,结果——姑娘,我真是神,不是鬼!还有,别拿我当外挂,成不?
  • 女皇倾城:邪帝请别撩

    女皇倾城:邪帝请别撩

    她,上天入地无所不能,有着绝世容颜。他,除了对她无比致爱不能自拔,可以说是完美。某女:你到底要干嘛,夺我江山,抢我风头!某男:你若嫁给我,我的就是你的。某女:这个…不行!某男:不行也得行,你我要定了。
  • 天庭越狱计划

    天庭越狱计划

    林七很倒霉,好好儿走在路上走着,却差点被天上掉下来的一面镜子给砸死。竟发现这镜子是天上被神仙关在天牢里的大魔王们扔下来的。大魔王们逼着林七修练,变强,然后要林七帮他们越狱。林七本来是不想帮他们的,但当林七利用大魔王教给自己的能力,获得一个个美女的青睐时,忽然发现修仙路上顺便帮一帮这些倒霉催的大魔王,似乎也不是什么坏事……
  • 那些一起探寻鬼大叔的日子

    那些一起探寻鬼大叔的日子

    厕所、鬼,这是孩子世界里最敏感也是最真实的故事,在这些故事里,他们有些胆怯,但又很勇敢;有时会逃避,又充满期待;面对困难,他们分析它、解决它。可一旦解决了,他们又感到了无奈与遗憾:因为成长也意味着分离。你的经历也一样,所以你懂的。
  • 诸神札记

    诸神札记

    以天地为局,下棋者既是棋手,亦是棋子。自古以来,成王败寇皆是定数,胜便是神,败便是魔!每一个时代都拥有属于它自己的主角,它会带领你穿过层层的时空隧道,见证每一个神话的兴亡与轮回。因为这本札记,它………………