I have at this moment a dog brushing a
deer, not far from this, who is come of a hound that very scout sent
as a present after his friends, and which was of the stock he always
used himself: a truer breed, in nose and foot, is not to be found in
the wide Union."
"Hector!" said the old man, struggling to conquer an emotion that
nearly suffocated him, and speaking to his hound in the sort of tones
he would have used to a child, "do ye hear that, pup! your kin and
blood are in the prairies! A name--it is wonderful--very wonderful!"
Nature could endure no more. Overcome by a flood of unusual and
extraordinary sensations, and stimulated by tender and long dormant
recollections, strangely and unexpectedly revived, the old man had
just self-command enough to add, in a voice that was hollow and
unnatural, through the efforts he made to command it--
"Boy, I am that scout; a warrior once, a miserable trapper now!" when
the tears broke over his wasted cheeks, out of fountains that had long
been dried, and, sinking his face between his knees, he covered it
decently with his buckskin garment, and sobbed aloud.
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