CHAPTER XXXIV.
SAVED BY A MUSK-DEER.—STORIES OF WONDERFUL MOUNTAINS.
Relief came, but so imperceptibly that it stole over them. A perfume so strong filled the air that the animals coughed, the great snake writhed, and approached nearer to them; they were lost; no, the perfume had entered the nostrils of the reptile; its movement was languid, another second, and their deliverer appeared. It was a musk-deer, or roe-buck, who had pursued the serpent till it had lost it in the fissure for a few minutes only, when, recovering its trail, the deer had pursued it to the platform, where, with one grip at its neck, it killed it, when, startled at the cavalcade, it retraced its steps, not at all to the regret of Nicholas, for, valuable as the musk animal was, his gratitude was too great to have killed it. Having crossed the platform, Nicholas saw the predicament of Chow, who was still employed in keeping the wolves at bay. He had fired many arrows, yet had killed but three, while others sat crouching, as if neither liking to recede or advance, waiting, in fact, for the boy's back to be turned, before they made an attack; so keeping poor Chow in one terrible position, not daring to turn his back or to fire his last remaining arrow, for fear that it should miss. The tables, however, were turned, when Nicholas, followed by the guide, both with fixed bows, came to his rescue; one flight more from the three bows, and the now terrified beasts scampered off, when Chow returned to the other side of the platform with Nicholas, and the whole party offered up thanks to Heaven for their miraculous preservation.
It is in the mountains of Pe-tche-Lee that the musk-deer is generally found by hunters, who find a good market, not only for the musk, but the body, which is in great esteem; and that I may account to you in a reasonable manner for the providential escape of the travelers, I must tell you that the flesh of serpents is the favorite and most common food of this roe-buck, who kills them with ease, however large or numerous; for no sooner does he come near than the serpent becomes overpowered with the scent of the musk; and so well is this fact known to the mountaineers, that when they go to cut wood or make charcoal in the mountains, they carry about their persons a few grains of this musk, and rest and sleep without fear from the venomous snakes, which might otherwise destroy them.
The travelers resumed their journey, and continued till it became dark, when they pitched their tents upon an open plain, lighted a circle of fire around their encampment, and remained for the night; so, for at least three months, they continued this tedious journey, keeping within a few miles of the sea-coast, through mountains, plains and forests, till they reached a small village, at the base of the mountain chain of Lao-yang, where they were once more enabled to rest beneath the roof of a house, without fear of traitors, for Lao-yang was the head-quarters of the governor and general of the province, Woo-san-Kwei.
As they were passing the ridges of these mountains, the guide kept his eyes fixed upon their green sides, as if in deep thought. "Surely my brother can see nothing wonderful in these tree-growing hills," said Chow.
"Thy mean servant was dreaming of his native province, of which these mountains reminded him, although compared with those of my native Chen-si they are dirt heaps."
"The mountains of my brother's province of Chen-si are doubtless great, but they are mole-hills to those of Fokien, where thy unworthy brother was born," said Chow.
"Why, what words are these? Does not the whole world know that Chen-si has a mountain of the shape of a cock, and which sometimes crows so loud that it may be heard for ten miles?"