Lost in the Cañon

by Herbert Strang

  FATE OF AN ENTRAPPED BEAR.

  Wild beasts, in their wanderings through the forests, often meet andfight in the most savage manner. Here is a story told the writer, lastsummer, by an old gentleman in Somerest county, Maine:

  "One of the toughest fights I ever saw," said he, "came off over behindthat mountain yonder. It was years ago. Perhaps I saw with a boy's eyesat that time; I was but fourteen years old, then. But you shall have thestory:

  "There wa'n't a railroad in the state, in those days. Whenever any ofthe farmers wanted to go down to Farmington, or Norridgewock, or toPortland, they had to go with their teams; and when making a trip to thelatter place were often gone a week or ten days.

  "Quite late in the fall my father and Mr. Wilber, our nearest neighbor,had gone to Portland in company. Always during their absence we boysused the time in fishing, gunning, and other sports such as boys delightin. They had been gone two days, when early the third morning aftertheir departure Jed Wilber came running to our house, all excitement.

  "'The bears have been killing our sheep!' he exclaimed. 'They came intothe little pasture last night, killed the old four-year-old, and a lamb,dragged them out into the bushes, and there we found their pelts takenoff and rolled up, as nice as a butcher could do it.'

  "'Oh, you ought to have shut them up, Jed,' said grandmother.

  "'I know it,' said Jed. 'Father told us to, every night. But we wereplaying last night, and forgot it.'

  "'The bear'll be back, to-night,' said I.

  "'Of course he will,' said Jed, 'and that's what I am over here for--Iwant to get your bear-trap. I know just how to set it,' he went on,seeing grandmother hesitate. 'I saw 'em set it last winter a dozentimes.'

  "'Well, you can have the trap,' said grandmother. 'But mind it don'tspring, and catch your hands or feet.'

  "Jed and I brought the trap from the woodhouse chamber. It wastremendously heavy--weighing sixty or seventy pounds. But between us wecarried it up to the Wilbers', and with Sol's help (Sol was Jed's nextyounger brother) we took it to the pasture. Then, by using a crowbar wemanaged, after a deal of prying and holding, to press down the stiffsprings, and so set it. This done, we chained it to a four-foot log ofgreen spruce, and left it near the spot where the bear had killed thesheep. For a bait, we laid partially under it a sheep's head, from asheep that had lately been slaughtered by Mr. Wilber.

  "Perhaps some of the boys may wonder why the lads did not chain the trapto a stump, or a standing tree. Hunters never chain a bear-trap fast tothe spot where they set it. They clog it, that is, fasten a heavy stickor log to it, for the bear to drag. If caught and held fast, at first, alarge bear would demolish any trap. But if allowed to run with it, theclog will at length weary him so that he may be easily overtaken andshot.

  "Early the next morning," continued the old man, "I ran over toWilber's, and we hurried to the pasture. The sheep's head was gone, butthe bear, if indeed it was one, had kept his legs out of the trap. Werebaited it with mutton shanks, and the next morning Jed came to thehouse before I was dressed.

  "'The trap's gone!' he shouted. 'Get your gun. We must follow him!'

  "Hastily swallowing some breakfast, I loaded the gun with slugs, andwith Jed and Sol rushed to the pasture. Sure enough the trap was gone,clog and all. The place where it had been placed bore marks of astruggle; the turf was gouged up, and in several spots there wereblood-drops on the grass, and on the dry leaves. It was in October, thelast of the month. The brakes in the woods were dead, but stillstanding. These had been pressed to the ground, and made a broad trail.

  "By noon we gained the crest of a high ridge, or mountain, five or sixmiles to the westward. The farther side fell off abruptly to the bank ofa small river. This side, too, was covered with thick hemlock andspruce. We hesitated about going further. It would be nearly night bythe time we got back, if we started for home now. But we wanted to savethe trap. If we went back, not only should we lose the bear, but thetrap besides, and Jed, whose carelessness had cost the loss of twosheep, was especially anxious to get the bear.

  "Sol had brought a lunch. We divided it between us, and again taking upour guns, followed the trail down into the dark growth, toward theriver. An hour took us to the stream. But here, instead of coming uponthe bear, as we had expected, we found that he had turned up the bank tothe north. We kept on, however. There was a sort of fascination in thechase, even though every mile was taking us further into the wilderness.

  "The late October afternoon was waning. Already the shadow of a largemountain to the westward was falling over the forest, in the valleywhere we were. The valley narrowed to a rocky ravine as we went on, andthe mountain, with its dark spruces, seemed to tower threateningly overus.

  "'It's no use, Jed,' said I; 'we ought to go home. I know you want----'

  "'Hark!' exclaimed Sol.

  "A sharp yelp, as if from a hurt dog, rang out. It seemed to come to usfrom only a short distance. Almost instantly it was followed by a longyell, and a chorus of howls. Snap ran, crouching, between our legs.

  "'Wolves!' cried Jed.

  "We stood listening, breathlessly. In a moment the yell burst out again,followed by yelps, snarls, and the sounds of a general fight.

  "'I'll bet they're afoul of the bear,' whispered Jed.

  "The uproar continued.

  "'If they are, they won't mind us,' continued Jed. 'Let's creep up, andsee.'

  "Cocking our guns, we moved cautiously forward. The yells grew louder,and we heard growls. At length, turning a little bend of the ravine, wepeered round a great boulder and saw a sight I shall never forget. Withhis back against a rock sat the bear--a tremendous fellow helooked--with the trap on his paw, while about him leaped, and surged,and snapped, fifteen or twenty gray wolves, their white teeth grinning,and their eyes flashing green fire. The bear was fighting for lifeagainst the whole of them.

  "The wolves had struck upon his trail, and the smell of the blood thatcame from the leg crushed in the trap had made them furious. He foughthard, swinging the trap clog, as he struck with his forelegs to beatthem off.

  "Occasionally, as the ravenous creatures leaped at his throat, he wouldcatch one with his uninjured paw and give him a hug that drew out asmothered yelp. Sometimes five or six of the wolves would jump at thebear at the same time, and for a moment we would lose sight of him, buthe brushed them away, and rose again. The growls, yells and snappingjaws were savage beyond description. It grew dusk as we watched thefight.

  "'What can we do?' said Sol.

  "'It would be useless for us to interfere,' said I; 'they're bound tohave him.'

  "'Let's fire among them, though,' said Jed; 'I haven't brought a loadedgun up here for nothing. All together now.'

  "All three of us fired together at the growling, struggling pack.

  "A moment's silence followed the reports, then a long howl. We shrankback around the boulder, out of sight. Then a sudden panic seized us,and we ran down the ravine, and did not stop till we were a mile below.A faint howl came echoing through the somber forest.

  "'They are not chasing us,' said Jed; 'guess we riddled some of 'em!'

  "Night fell as we climbed the steep ridge. We had a dark time going homethrough the woods. Fortunately, Sol had a match in his pocket, andcoming to an old white birch stub, we tore off several rolls of thedried bark. By fastening these to the end of a stick and lighting them,we were able to pick our way through the woods. It was a hazy night. Themoon showed dimly. The glimpses we now and then got of it enabled us tokeep a straight course. It was after eight o'clock when we reached home,and worried enough the folks had been about us.

  "The next forenoon we started for the ravine again. We were curious toknow how the fight terminated; besides, it was best to get the trap, ifpossible, to avert the storm that would burst on Jed's head when hisfather came home. Taking a shorter cut through the woods, we reached theplace where we had seen the wolves, about eleven o'clock.

  "No sound was heard save the rippling of the stream amon
g the rocks. Westole cautiously to the boulder, where we had stood the night before,and looked from behind it. Nothing was in sight.

  "'Gone,' said Jed. 'Let's go up, and see where they had their fight.'

  "A sly little mink darted away, and into the stream as we approached.Beyond was a ghastly sight! There lay the skull and bones of the bear,gnawed clean, and showing yellow-white; and there lay the trap, stillgripping with its iron jaws the bone of one paw.

  "All the brakes were smashed down, and the bushes and the rock werebesmeared with blood and hair. About the trap, within a radius of a fewrods, lay the bones and skulls of two of the wolves, eaten by theircomrades. Perhaps the bear had killed them, or perchance our shots hadcaused their death. It looked as if other wolves had come to the feast.

  "'Come, come!' muttered Jed. 'Let's be off before they come back.'

  "We took the trap to the stream to cleanse it, and then placing it ontwo poles we started for home. And a _tug_ it gave us, too!"