Червона чума
Chapter 5
IcrossedLivermoreValleyandthemountainsbetweenitandthegreatvalleyoftheSanJoaquin. Youhaveneverseenthatvalley,butitisverylargeanditisthehomeofthewildhorse. Therearegreatdrovesthere,thousandsandtensofthousands. Irevisiteditthirtyyearsafter,soIknow. Youthinktherearelotsofwildhorsesdownhereinthecoastvalleys,buttheyareasnothingcomparedwiththoseoftheSanJoaquin. Strangetosay,thecows,whentheywentwild,wentbackintothelowermountains. Evidentlytheywerebetterabletoprotectthemselvesthere.
“Inthecountrydistrictstheghoulsandprowlershadbeenlessinevidence,forIfoundmanyvillagesandtownsuntouchedbyfire. Buttheywerefilledbythepestilentialdead,andIpassedbywithoutexploringthem. ItwasnearLathropthat,outofmyloneliness,Ipickedupapairofcolliedogsthatweresonewlyfreethattheywereurgentlywillingtoreturntotheirallegiancetoman. Thesecolliesaccompaniedmeformanyyears,andthestrainsofthemareinthoseverydogstherethatyouboyshaveto-day. Butinsixtyyearsthecolliestrainhasworkedout. Thesebrutesaremorelikedomesticatedwolvesthananythingelse.”
Hare-Liprosetohisfeet,glancedtoseethatthegoatsweresafe,andlookedatthesun’spositionintheafternoonsky,advertisingimpatienceattheprolixityoftheoldman’stale. UrgedtohurrybyEdwin,Granserwenton.
