CHAPTER ELEVEN.
OUR WINTER ENCAMPMENT--OUR HUTS--HOW WE SPENT OUR TIME--A NIGHT ALARM--VISIT FROM A GRIZZLY--MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE SAME--SHORT SAVES ME--WESTART IN SEARCH OF MRS. BRUIN--WE ENTER THE FASTNESSES OF THE ROCKYMOUNTAINS--SHORT'S BATTLE WITH THE BEAR--HIS PERILOUS SITUATION--STILLIN DANGER--WE GO ROUND TO ASSIST HIM--THE SNOW MOVES THOUGH THE BEARDOES NOT, AND WE FIND OURSELVES ON THE TOP OF AN AVALANCHE--A MOSTUNPLEASANT MADE OF LOCOMOTION.
I cannot say that I looked forward with any rest degree of satisfactionto the idea of spending the remaining months of the winter, withoutbooks or any other means of intellectual enjoyment, in the encampment atthe foot of the Rocky Mountains. The Raggets were very worthy people,and kind and considerate in every way; but some of our other companionswere somewhat rough and uncouth, and none of them were addicted toliterary pursuits, so that there were not six readable volumes of anysort or description to be found among all the party. At times I feltquite a craving for books, when my fingers grew weary mending harness,or manufacturing snow-shoes or moccasins; when conversation, which wasnever very brisk, altogether flagged. Still I had one great resource,and that was my note-book, though what I was putting into it mycompanions were very much puzzled to guess. My friends at home will nothave much difficulty in guessing what I was writing about. Take it allin all, however, we spent a very pleasant time up among the snow, thoughit was brought to a conclusion rather sooner than we expected.
We had plenty of provisions; we had made ourselves tolerably snug; ournumerous well-armed party might set any prowling red-skins at defiance;and, above all things, we had laid in such a fine stock of good-humourand good-nature, that we had nothing like a quarrel or an angry disputeduring the whole of the time. We also cut out plenty of employment forourselves, and in spite of the cold, were never long shut up in our hutswithout making an excursion in one direction or another. Sam Short,Obed, and I, with the other Raggets, slept in one hut by ourselves. Itwas the outer hut of all, and forming part of it was our principalstore, in which the greater portion of our provisions were kept. Herewere piled up casks of flour, and sugar, and salted meats, and fish, andmany other necessary articles. We none of us were much addicted tolying long in bed; but when we did turn in, we slept sounder than, I amsure, any tops ever did. We might generally have all snored as loud asa dozen bears growling away in concert, without in the slightest degreedisturbing each other. One night, however, a piece of salt tongue hadstuck somewhere on its downward passages or Mrs Ragget had given me toostrong a bowl of green tea, as a special mark of her favour, or fromsome other unaccountable cause, I could not for some time get to sleep.I found out that Sam Short did snore, and most lustily and variouslytoo, with notes resembling what one might fancy a broken-winded bagpipewith a bad influenza would give forth more than any other sounds. Myother friends were not much behind him in the loudness of their snores,though rather less varied and musical. At length, in spite of thedelicious concert, I did manage, by dint of counting and repeating myown name over and over again, and other similar devices, to get into asort of dose. Still, though I was asleep, I could hear all the noisesas clearly as before, only I forgot where I was, and a variety ofstrange and ever-changing notions came into my head.
I thought that I was at sea, when a violent storm arose, and that a hugewhale got hold of the vessel, and towed her on at a terrific rate,spouting away and roaring most furiously. Suddenly there was a crash,and I found that the whale had dragged us against a rock, and ran itselfon shore. There it lay floundering away, till suddenly it gave acurious kick with its tail, and sprung back again right over our headsinto deep water. I never saw a whale, or indeed any creature for thatmatter, give such a leap. I had very serious doubts, however, whetherit was a real whale after all. As it went off skimming over the sea, itlooked back with such a wicked expression in its little twinkling eye,as much as to say, "There, I've done for you. I hope you may like it;"at the same time snorting and blowing louder than ever, in a way mostunusual, at all events for whales, which, except when in a flurry, aregenerally quiet, well-behaved creatures.
The boiling sea soon knocked the vessel to pieces, and the crash of thewreck made me start up to swim for my life. There really had been acrash, though not so loud as I supposed, for it had not awakened therest of the sleepers. The noise still continued, as if some one wasbreaking into the hut or store, and turning over the articles piled upin it. I jumped into my clothes, for with the thermometer twentydegrees below zero, it is not pleasant to run out without some covering,and calling up my companions, seized my rifle and axe, ever ready athand, and rushed out to ascertain what was the matter. I fully believedthat the camp was attacked by red-skins, and that we were about to havea desperate affray. The door of the store was close to that of oursleeping hut, but it was closed of course at night. I opened it andsprang in with my axe, ready to strike, hoping by the suddenness of myattack to scare the Indians, and prevent them from defending themselves.The moon was shining with a splendour which she never exhibits throughthe denser atmosphere of merrie England, and she was just then castingher beams through the open doorway. There was a window in the hut whichhad been boarded up, but the boards had been torn away, and a glisteningsheet of snow was seen through it. Thus there was enough light in theshed to render a lantern unnecessary. I started back; for, instead ofthe party of red-skins I expected to see, my eyes fell on a huge grizzlybear, who was busily rolling the casks about, in a vain attempt to getat their contents.
He was a ferocious-looking monster, gaunt and hairy, and had evidentlybeen driven out to forage in our camp by the pangs of hunger. When hesaw me he gave forth a fierce growl of defiance, and instead ofdecamping, as I expected he would, he made a desperate rush at me. Istepped back and lifted my axe, intending to make its sharp edge fallwith all my strength on his head; but he was too quick for me, andseizing my arm, in another instant the savage brute had me fast lockedin his deadly embrace. He would have killed me in an instant, I verilybelieve, had I not as he caught me, shoved the head of the axe into hisopen mouth, where it served the purpose of a gag, and considerablyincommoded him. It may be supposed that I sung out pretty lustily atthe same time for help. As to doing anything for myself, I found thatwas impossible, beyond the holding the axe with all my might in thebear's mouth. I felt certain that the moment it got out would be mylast.
"Help! help! Obed, Short! Quick, quick!--a huge grizzly bear has gotme," I shouted.
The monster seemed to comprehend the meaning of my cries; for he madeoff with me through the aperture by which he had entered, carrying mealong as easily as if I was an infant in arms. As he made off throughthe window, my companions, whose responding shouts I had just beforeheard, made their appearance at the door. It would have been easy forthem to shoot the bear, but in doing so they would very likely have hitme, so I begged that they would not make the attempt. They thereforefollowed the bear and me with their glittering axes in hand. If myweight did not prove much of a hindrance to him, my axe at all eventsdid, and they were not long in overtaking us. A bear's winter coat isalmost as impervious as a suit of armour, and for some time, though theyhacked away at him very lustily, their axes had but little effect. Atlength, Short, who had his rifle loaded in his hand, and was ever ascool as a snow-ball, which, I conceive, is cooler than a cucumber,managed to get ahead of the bearish marauder, and looking him full inthe face, levelled his weapon.
"Shall I fire, Dick?" he asked. "I know that I can hit him."
"Yes, yes; fire," I grunted out as well as I could; for the brute,fearing that he was going to lose me, began to give me some unpleasantlystrong hugs. I was afraid also that should my strength fail me he mightget the axe out of his mouth, when he would soon have made mincemeat ofmy nose.
"I'll hit his right eye, then," cried Short.
"Fire," I cried.
There was the crack of his rifle, a loud roar, and I found myself wellbespattered with bear's grease, rolling over and over in the
snow, butat length Bruin turned on his back, opened his claws, and to my greatdelight I found myself free. On jumping out of bed I had slipped on mythick buffalo-skin coat, which fastened round the waist with a thong,and this had much preserved me, or I should have been mangled terribly.As it was, I could scarcely rise to get clear of the bear; and if myfriends had not come to my assistance I could not have crawled home.Bruin was dead and fit for smoking. While Obed helped me along, therest dragged him to the camp, where we found all the rest of the menafoot to ascertain what was the matter. I went to bed feeling very muchbruised and knocked about, but by rubbing myself over plentifully withgrease I was next morning tolerably limp and pliable. After breakfastwe cut up the bear, but as may be supposed, he was in very badcondition, nearly all sinews and bones, though when in good condition hecould not have weighed less than eight hundred pounds. We, however,managed to get some ham and a few steaks out of him, and a small supplyof fat, while his skin afforded a very acceptable addition to our bedcoverings. Just as the operation was concluded, Short, who had goneout, came back, saying that, a little snow having fallen in the firstpart of the night, he could make out the bear's trail.
"If we follow it up, we may come upon Mrs Bear's lodgings, and findsome young ones at home. Who's for the game?" he exclaimed.
The project suited our tastes, and the young Raggets and I, with two orthree others, declared ourselves ready to set out forthwith. Off weset, with a little pemmican and bread in our pockets, and our rifles andlong poles in our hands, fully expecting some good sport. Short saidthat the she-bears and cubs are supposed to hibernate; but that no doubtwe should be able to poke them out of their holes. We soon left theplain, when the trail led us up among the rugged defiles of themountains. I confess that I could not have distinguished the marks ofthe bear's feet in the snow; but Short's more practised eye did so, andhe every now and then pointed them out to me, so that we knew we were onthe right track.
Our undertaking was a very hazardous one. There is not a moreferocious, at the same time powerful and cunning monster, among all wildbeasts than the grizzly bear. When he meets a man, he has something tofight for besides the honour of victory; for he eats him for his dinneror supper as the case may be. As we advanced we found ourselves in ascene of almost terrific wildness. Dark rocks rising out of the snowtowered above our heads, so as to completely shut us in, whilemountain-ranges appeared one beyond the other, showing us the elevationwe had attained. The old grizzly had certainly chosen a veryinaccessible post for his domicile. The cold was very intense, thoughthe exercise we were performing kept our blood in circulation. I ownthat I felt very much inclined to turn back, for the hug the old bearhad given me had made my bones ache, and I doubted, as the French say,"whether the game was worth the candle;" in other words, whether it wasworth while running so great a risk as we were doing, and getting socold, and enduring so much fatigue, merely for the sake of killing anold she-bear. However, I said nothing, as I knew that my companionswould not enter into my views of the matter. On we plunged farther andfarther into the wild recesses of the mountains, till Short made someremarks which led us to suspect that even he began to doubt whether weshould find the bear after all.
"Well, Sam, but where's the trail?" asked Obed, looking round.
"The trail, boy; why, that's just gone and lost itself long ago,"answered Sam, with a quizzical look on his dried-up countenance.
"If the trail has lost itself, don't let us go and follow its example,"remarked Elihu Ragget, laughing. "However, I vote we sit down and havesome dinner, while we agree what's next to be done."
His proposal met with universal assent. We accordingly all sat down onthe snow in the most sheltered spot we could find and opened our storeof provisions, but Sam Short very quickly jumped up, and taking hisshare in his hand said he would go and explore a little ahead while wefinished our repast. We were none of us sorry to rest; but before wehad quite finished our frugal meal, a loud shout was borne down the glento our ears. We had little doubt that it was Sam calling to us. Weseized our rifles, and rushed on.
We had not gone far before we saw him standing in front of a large rock,and in the rock there was a cavern, and at the mouth of the cavern thereappeared a huge grizzly she-bear rubbing her eyes, Elihu declared, as ifjust awoke out of her winter's sleep. I rather think she was lickingher lips at the thoughts of the repast she was going to make of SamShort. She would have found him a tough morsel I suspect. Why she didnot at first rush on and try to gobble up our friend I could not tell,till Elihu observed that she probably had her cubs inside the cave, andthat she was guarding them. Our appearance, however, instead ofdaunting her increased her rage, and with a savage roar she began towaddle towards Short. He retreated slowly. We sang out to him to givehim confidence. He had before not thought it prudent to fire, lest, aswas very likely, his shots should not kill the bear; but when he heardour voices, he lifted his rifle and fired. I thought that the ball hadgone through her head; but I suppose that it did not, because on shecame at poor Sam faster than ever.
Near the cavern was a precipice, with a glen or gully below it. Theprecipice did not go sheer down, but there were several ledges on theway covered with snow, while the bottom of the glen was filled withsnow, how deep it would have been difficult to ascertain. As we drewnearer we discovered, to our dismay, that this glen ran up between wherewe then stood and the cavern, to get to which Short had made aconsiderable circuit, though his keen eye had detected it from the hillon which we were. How to render him the most effectual assistance wasnow the difficulty. While some ran round, Obed and I went to the edgeof the glen to fire across it at the bear. As the bear advanced, Shortsprang back and seized the barrel of his rifle to use it as a club. Awalking-cane would have been of about as much use to him. Still hewielded it gallantly, and gave the bear an ugly knock on the nose. Thisnaturally enraged Mrs Bruin, and grasping the fire-arm she pressed on.Poor Sam! One of three dreadful deaths seemed prepared for him, eitherto be torn by the bear or to be dashed to pieces down the precipice,with the very great chance of being shot by us, his friends, should weattempt to fire at the bear. He dared not look back to see where he wasgoing, lest the bear should seize him. He felt his left foot over theedge of the precipice.
"Fire, fire," he shouted, dropping on his knees almost under the bear.Mrs Bruin had sense enough to know that the consequence of a fall toher would be very unpleasant, and she was as unwilling as Sam to fallinto the ravine. She therefore instinctively drew back. That instantone ball entered her head, and another her shoulder. The former from myrifle staggered her. It prevented her from seizing Short with herteeth; but what was our terror to see the snow give way under ourcompanion's feet, and to all appearance inevitable destruction awaitinghim. He struggled violently to save himself, and just as the greaterpart of his body was over he caught hold of one of the hind paws of thebear, who had fallen on her back, and lay kicking furiously in anattempt to rise. Sam, however, held on with all his might. It seemedhis only chance of safety. I was afraid lest the bear in her strugglesshould slip over also.
Neither Obed nor I had been idle while watching the scene. We bothloaded our rifles, and now stood ready once more to fire. By moving alittle on one side, we saw that we could get a good shot at her withouthitting Short. Not a moment was to be lost. Running on I fired, Obedfollowed my example. The bear's struggles grew less violent, and Sambegan to try and haul himself up by her leg. It was a dangerousproceeding; there being an inclined plane at the edge, his weightappeared to move the body of the bear on. She could not rise, but sheturned round and dug her sharp claws into the snow to save herself.Now, instead of wishing her to die, we were anxious that she mightsurvive till the rest of the party could get up to her. Her growlsbecame more and more feeble. She could scarcely hold on another minute.Poor Sam! We trembled for his fate. We shouted to the rest of theparty to hasten on. They had had a difficult place to cross in singlefile at the head of the gully.
Now they came on, hurrying over thesnow. The bear gave two or three convulsive struggles. I wished that Icould have leaped across the chasm to poor Sam's help. I thought thatthe bear was slipping down again. If she had got any way on her, assailors say, it was evident that the united strength of the party couldnot stop her. They sprang on, and just as I felt sure the bear wouldhave slipped over the precipice, they seized her by the fore-paws. Shewas not dead, however, for in return for the act of kindness she madesome desperate attempts to bite them.
"Haul away, haul away," sang out Sam, and they did haul with all theirmight. Though they could not move the bear, they prevented her fromslipping down. She gave several severe kicks with her hind foot. Samclung on to it, and by the most violent efforts managed to drag himselfup by her shaggy coat till two of the party caught hold of his collarand hauled away till they got him up from the edge and placed him inrather a safer position, but still not one free from danger. For thefirst time for some minutes I breathed freely, and as we could do nomore where we were, Obed and I hurried round to help the rest. When wearrived the bear had received her quietus, but it was astonishing howmany shot and what terrific blows she had received before she waskilled. We were congratulating ourselves on the additional supply ofhams and steaks she would afford us when a crack appeared in the snowjust below our feet, and to our horror we found that the whole mass,carrying us and the carcase of the bear with it, was slipping off overthe precipice.
Dick Onslow Among the Redskins Page 11