CHAPTER XIV
A FIGHT WITH A GRIZZLY
Now, though Angus was working hard under pressure, the hard part of itwas not the work but the things he wanted to do and could not. Though heplugged away steadily at his tasks, his thoughts were not of them, butof lonely trails, and steep hills, and deep timber, and the surgingwaters tumbling down in nameless creeks from hoary old glaciers; and hewould have given all he owned if he could with a clear conscience havequit the ranch work and taken a holiday. But as he could not, he workedon grimly.
Occasionally, however, he rode the range after stock, and on theseoccasions he carried a rifle, on the chance of getting a shot at a deer.Invariably now he rode Chief, who was becoming a most dependable saddlehorse. And so one bright fall morning he rode along the foothills tofind, if he could, a small bunch of cattle which he himself had not seensince Spring.
Shortly after mid-day he found himself near the site of an old loggingcamp, where several creeks united to form a muskeg, and at the foot ofit a little lake. Out of the lake a larger creek ran, and across itstood the old camp buildings, now worn and weatherbeaten and roofless.The banks were steeply cut and the old pole bridge was rotten. ThereforeAngus put Chief on a rope where the grazing was good, and taking hislunch and rifle, crossed the creek, intending to eat beside an excellentspring which was better than the creek water.
He leaned his rifle against one end of the ancient bunkhouse, went thelength of it, turned the corner, and came full upon a huge, old-mangrizzly.
_He turned the corner, and came full upon a huge, old-mangrizzly._]
The bear had been digging at a rotten stump, which strewed the ground infragments, and the brawl of the creek had drowned whatever noise Angushad made. Thus it was a case of mutual surprise. As Angus turned thecorner the bear's senses brought him warning. He turned his great, flathead, and at sight of the intruder his mane roached and bristled, and heswung about with unbelievable quickness. Being more or less penned bythe wall of the eating camp and an old pole fence, he probably believedhimself cornered. He half rose, with a snort, and his fierce, littleeyes lit with a green flare.
Angus had had no first-hand experience with grizzlies, though he hadseen them at a distance. Nevertheless, he knew a good deal about themfrom men who had, and his information amounted to this: The ordinarygrizzly will run if he can; but if he is wounded or believes himselfcornered, there is no telling just what he will do. Also there are "bad"bears, just as there are "bad" bulls or stallions.
The bear was a complete surprise to Angus. He was so close that he couldalmost smell him, could see the little pieces of rotten, wet wood andslaver on his jaws, the red of his mouth and the white of his tusks allspeckled with dirt from his grubbing. For a moment his heart almoststopped beating, his hair prickled, and stood on end, and his kneesknocked together. For an instant he stood frozen in his tracks, and thenas he saw the great brown bulk gather itself he came to life and action.With an involuntary yell he leaped into the air like a scared lynx,turned and hit the ground running.
Behind him he heard a short, coughing roar, and it nearly doubled thestretch of his stride. He made the length of the bunkhouse, turned itand grabbed for his rifle. But his fingers merely brushed the barrel andknocked it down. There was no time to pick it up. He doubled the nextcorner like a rabbit and after him came the grizzly, with most infernalpersistence.
For a short distance a grizzly is as fast as a good pony, and all thathad saved Angus was dodging around corners. But that could not go onindefinitely. The walls of the roofless bunkhouse were of logs, closelymortised, but inside he knew there were the remains of some old,double-decked bunks. It was taking a chance, but he ducked through thedoor opening, scrambled up on the bunks, the old poles crashing beneathhim, and straddled the top log just in time to escape the swipe of asteel-garnished paw which actually brushed his leg.
From this strategic position, rather out of breath and somewhat shaky,he looked down at the grizzly, and the bear looked up at him, rumblingand grumbling to himself, his wicked, little eyes burning with unholylights. He was a big bear, shaggy and rough, with a sprinkle of gray inhis mane, and there was no doubt that he was annoyed. As a beginning heknocked a bunk to pieces with one lift and bat of a paw, and rearing hereached for Angus. Luckily the wall was high, and the big claws rakedbark and slivers below him. Not being able to reach his enemy, the beardropped back with a grunt, and stood swinging to and fro gently.
It occurred to Angus that he might drop over the wall, get his rifle andcall for a show-down, but as he waited to get back some of his breathand steadiness, meanwhile hitching along the wall to get closer to thegun, the bear shambled through the door. He trotted around thebunkhouse, and coming to the rifle sniffed at it and took a wide circle.Perhaps he knew the smell of steel, and suspected a trap. But afterprowling up and down for a few minutes eying the treed man, he did notgo away, which was quite contrary to what Angus had heard of the habitsof bears under similar circumstances. He lay down like a dog, apparentlyprepared to camp there indefinitely.
From where Angus sat he could see Chief, standing hip-shot and halfasleep, quite unconscious of the bear, and he was glad that the latterwas equally unconscious of the horse, for he seemed full of racialprejudice against man and his possessions. All Angus could do was waitit out. An hour passed, and he grew weary of his position, and indignantat being forced to lie along a log like a lizard by a low-gradeproposition like a bear. He tore off bark and pelted him with it. Thegrizzly merely eyed him evilly and sniffed at what he threw; so Angusgave it up, and more time passed.
In spite of his position the sun and wind made him sleepy. Perhaps hedozed. He had seen and heard nothing. But suddenly as he turned his headhe saw a girl a few yards away from the old eating-camp.
For a moment Angus did not believe his eyes. It seemed one of thosevague visions which flit across the mental retina in that dim shadowlandbetween wakefulness and slumber. She was looking down into the finder ofa camera, while back of her, reins lying on its neck instead of a-trail,stood a pony. She was tall and straight, and a crown of hair shone tothe slope of the afternoon's sun, for she was using a pony hat to shieldthe camera's lens.
Angus gaped and blinked, and then he knew it was no dream vision, butreal flesh and blood. Just then she got her picture and took a step ortwo in his direction, winding up the film.
"Hi!" Angus hailed, "don't come here. Get on your pony, quick."
Being very much in earnest, voice and words were harsh, peremptory. Thegirl stopped short and looked around. Then for the first time she sawhim perched on the wall.
"I beg your pardon!" she said, her voice carrying clear and full, atouch of hauteur in her tone answering the harshness of Angus' command."I'm not to come there, you say. Why not?" Her chin lifted as she spokeand she took another step forward.
"Bear!" Angus returned. "Get back, I tell you. I'm treed by a badgrizzly. Get on your pony and pull out before he sees you."
The girl stopped. "Do you mean that?" she demanded incredulously.
"Do I mean it?" Angus yelled, exasperated by her delay and frightened ather very real danger. "Get a move on you, woman, if you have any sense!He hears you now!"
His tone left no doubt of his sincerity, and the girl, turning, rantoward her pony. But the animal, not being anchored by the reins, sidledaway at her swift approach.
"Hurry up!" Angus shouted, for the big savage below him, hearing anothervoice, was bristling afresh and suddenly started around the corner ofthe building to investigate. Just then the pony either sighted or smeltthe bear, for he snorted, wheeled and broke into a gallop. "Run!" Angusyelled. "Get behind that eating-camp. Try to climb it, quick!" And nothaving time for more words he dropped from his perch, lit sprawlingalongside his rifle, seized it, and jumped around the corner into theopen in the wake of the grizzly, his hand hooked into the lever, while along soft-nose snicked home in the chamber.
The girl, now fully alive to her danger, was running for the corner oft
he eating camp, and the grizzly, halfway between, was after her. Somuch Angus saw at a glance, and then he caught the lumbering but swiftbulk fair center with the bead, and unhooked.
With the high-pitched, smacking voice of the rifle mingled the roar ofthe wounded grizzly. He went heels over head like a shot rabbit, came onhis feet again facing the gun, took a second bullet as if it had been apellet of bird-shot, and coughing out a fighting roar that seemed tohold all the bestial ferocity of the ages, came for Angus like a furrytornado.
There is this about a grizzly which entitles him to respect: When hecharges, he charges home. This fact Angus knew very well. The bear was ascant forty yards away. Angus caught the center of him with his sights,and began to pump steadily. His entire attention was concentrated onholding the sights, and otherwise the gun seemed to shoot itself.Missing was next to impossible at that range, but so also was choice ofaim. "When anything's comin' for you close up," Rennie had once advisedhim, "don't try to hit nowhere's special, but just hold plum' center andkeep shootin'." While Angus did not consciously remember this advice, hefollowed it, with a dull wonder that the stream of soft-noses tearingthrough the great brute's vitals did not stop him. His last shot wasfired at ten feet, and the hammer clicked down on an empty chamber. Asthe brown bulk hurled itself upon him, he lunged the rifle barrel withall his force into the yawning, white-tusked, red mouth. But as he triedto leap aside a huge paw blurred for an instant before his eyes and thenblotted out the world. He went down, crushed and smothered as by theweight of mountains.
The Land of Strong Men Page 14