Читать книгу Brother Jonathan онлайн

20 страница из 54

“Mr. Putnam,” said one of them, “the story of your hunting the she-wolf is told in all the houses of the new towns, but we have never heard it from yourself. The clock weights sink low, and we wish to keep awake. Tell us about that wily wolf, and how you felt when your eyes met hers in the cave.”

ssss1

“I never boast of the happenings of my life,” said Israel Putnam. “It is my nature to dash and do, and I but give point to the plans of others. That is nothing to boast of. Put on cedar wood and I will tell the tale of that cunning animal, a ‘witch-wolf,’ as some call her, as well as I can. The people at the taverns often ask me to kill time for them in that way.

“I came to Pomfret in 1749. For some years I was a busy man, toiling early and late, as you may know. I raised a house and barn; some of you were at the raising. I chopped down trees, made fences, planted apple-trees, sowed and reaped.

“My farm grew. I had a growing herd of cattle, but my pride was in my flock of sheep.