CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
A NIGHT VISITOR.
Chris Lee's bed that night was a contrivance of his own. It was betweentwo long pieces of rock, a narrow passage which, after taking the axe tolop them off, he filled full of aromatic pine branches. These lay closeand were elastic and yielding. Over them he stretched a blanket, uponwhich he rolled another piece of rock, which filled up one end of thenarrow passage, and there, snugly protected at head and sides, was thedelightful couch for a wholesomely tired lad, only wanting anotherblanket to cover him if he felt chilly, or to be ready to throw off ifhe found it warm.
Silence, darkness save for the glittering stars on high, sweet pure air,and an excellent appetite for sleep, there was all he could desire, andafter laying his rifle and revolver ready and lifting hiscartridge-pouch and hunting-knife a little over the rocks to preventthem from making dents in his sides, he said good-night to those near,let his head sink down, gazed for a few minutes at a brilliant star inthe zenith which his father had told him was Aldebaran--one which herecollected well from its unscientific name--the Bull's-eye, he closedhis own and began dreaming at once, but not pleasantly. The fact wasthat he had eaten a very hearty supper and lain down to sleep very soonafterwards, two rather foolish things to do if a calm and restful sleepbe sought.
Chris did not know why it was--the doctor told him afterwards--but hebegan to dream soon afterwards of rattlesnakes. Not of such as he hadseen on the rocky slope, the largest of which did not exceed six feet inlength, but of dreamland rattlesnakes, monsters of twenty feet long, andwith bony tails which kept up a constant whirr previous to their ownersstriking at that which they meant to destroy.
It was evident in the dream that they did not mean to destroy him, forthough they hovered over him with their heads playing up and down upontheir elastic necks, while their eyes glittered and their forked tonguesdarted in and out of the opening in their jaws, they did not strike,only kept him in a state of horror and suspense, till they made way forone of the porcupines that had been named at supper-time. This camequietly up to the foot of his bed, and walked up from his boots to hisknees, with its black and white quills lying down as smoothly as if theyformed so much excessively coarse hair. But then as the creaturecontinued its walk, to be soon upon the boy's chest, it seemed to getinto a violent passion, setting up its quills at all angles and rattlingthem together till it seemed about to dash at him. But instead of doinganything obnoxious it suddenly disappeared before the advance of askunk, which came trotting up his body from his feet, just after thesame fashion as the porcupine, but looking fiercely aggressive, in spiteof the beauty of its clean, glossy, black and white fur. Its eyesgleamed and sparkled; it showed its glistening sharp white teeth, andwaving its erect tail, which curved over its back like a squirrel's, ittwitched in the same way, and seemed every moment about to make a rushat the boy's face to inflict one of its dangerously poisonous bites,while the twitching tail threatened the discharge of the horriblyoffensive fluid which will send a determined dog yelling plaintively,as, completely cowed, it beats a retreat.
It seemed an hour of expectancy for what did not come off, and all thetime the sleeper lay half-conscious in the painful experience, tellinghimself that it was all fancy, for it was only a dream.
This was just as he was about to recover full consciousness, for theskunk gradually died away from where it had seemed to be standing uponhis chest, and Chris lay wide awake with his heart beating, painfullywide awake now, and with every nerve on the strain, as he listened andtried to make out the meaning of a strange heavy breathing mingled witha sniffing, snuffling which came from somewhere at the back of his head.
Chris's first thought was of springing up out of the trough-likebed-place he had selected and escaping by the foot; but before he couldput this into effect there was a rustling sound on the big piece of rockhe had jammed in behind his head, and though he could see nothing hecould feel that something had stepped up on to the stone and was bendingover him; the snuffling breathing grew louder, and, to his horror, hefelt a puff of hot breath full in his face.
There was no springing up now. An icy feeling chilled him, and he layperfectly motionless, unable to stir, and feeling as if he had suddenlysunk into another dream--a nightmare this, by which he was completelyfettered.
His rifle lay on one side, loaded; his revolver was on the other, andwithin reach of his hand; but he could not lift a finger, only stareupward with his eyes fixed upon the stars, which now seemed to beeclipsed by something dark passing between his face and them andremaining perfectly motionless for a few seconds. Then it passed onwardand he could see the stars again, conscious the while that whatever thecreature might be that had visited him it was now standing or sittingupon the long rock, to his left, breathing hard, with its head very nearhis own, and that, apparently dissatisfied with its position, or uneasy,it raised itself up and stepped over to the other side of the bed,forming what looked faintly like a black arch before the hind-legsfollowed the fore and it began to shuffle about uneasily upon the rockto the boy's right. Then there was a scraping sound, and something fellwith a thump on to the listener's chest and slipped down between therock and his ribs.
Chris's heart had ceased its heavy beating, but at this point it gave atremendous bound which seemed to give him a momentary feeling ofresolution and strength; but momentary only. He could not stir evennow, only think, and listen to the creature upon the rock as it uttereda peculiar whining sound, followed by a deep grunt.
Then all was still, as if the animal had been slightly alarmed and wasnow listening.
"If I stir," thought Chris--for he knew what his visitant must be--"if Istir it will seize me with its claws and bury its teeth in my throat.Oh, it is hard!"
For he knew what had happened: the bear had in changing its positionupon the long piece of rock disturbed the revolver lying there, andknocked it off on to the sleeper's chest, from which it had glided downbetween his ribs and the rock to lie close to his hand, where he couldnot seize it for his defence without rousing the animal to an attackbefore he could cock the pistol and fire.
The position was horrible, for Chris felt that the monster must be agrizzly, one of the fiercest and most powerful beasts that roam theforest, and though so much help was close at hand, it seemed to the boythat it might as well be a mile away, for he dared not--no, not dared,but simply could not--utter a sound.
How long this agony lasted he could not tell, but all the time he felt astrange combination of sensations, for it was as if his body was turnedto ice, his head was on fire, and hot and cold together he was meltingaway.
He could see dimly the bulky dark figure of his visitant, but he judgedthat it could see him plainly, for it kept on moving about uneasily, andtwice over changed its position from one rock to the other, bridgingthem over, and then sitting up as if listening, before coming downsoftly on all fours again, to stretch out its neck and begin sniffing athim from end to end.
At last, when a horrible feeling of faintness was creeping up from headto brain, a thrill ran through the boy, for a great paw was stretchedout, touched him on the breast, and he felt the claws catch in the rightside of his jacket as he was lifted up a little with a strange scrapingsound against the rock, and something rolled over on to his chest as hewas lowered down again, and then rolled back against his right-hand.
The shuffling sound began again, and as if to claw him out of the narrowtrench-like place in which he lay, the bear reached out once more,thrusting its great paw down between him and the rock, and with theclaws right under him began to lift him out.
Chris felt himself rising slowly, and knew that the next thing would bethat he would be seized by the animal's teeth and slowly carried off tohis lair.
But a change had come over the lad in those moments, ever since thefirst movement had sent something on to his chest to roll back againsthis hand. For that something was the revolver, about whose butt Chris'sfingers closed, and as the bear's shuffling had raised him u
p there wasa _click, click_ of the lock, a movement of the boy's wrist whichdirected the muzzle of the little piece upward, and then in an agony ofdesperation his right finger pressed the trigger and there was a sharpechoing report, followed by a furious yell and crash which was followedby a call for help, and the voice of Wilton.
"Who fired that shot?" he shouted.
"I did," gasped Chris, who had scrambled to his feet, trembling in everylimb.
"Who called for help?" shouted Griggs.
"I! Help!" came again.
"That you, Bourne?" said the doctor.
"Yes," came in a choking voice as of some one being suffocated.
"Oh, it's father!" shrieked Ned, and he rushed in the direction of thesound, just as there was a snarling, worrying sound and the breaking ofwood as if a heavy body was rushing among the trees.
"Ah!" came in Bourne's voice, loudly. "No, my boy, not hurt, but Ithought I was gone."
The speaker was the centre of a little group now, two of whom struckmatches, and Wilton produced a lanthorn, which was lit and held up, todisclose the face of Bourne, covered with blood, and his jacket hangingdown below his waist, literally ripped up.
"Help him to lie down," said the doctor anxiously. "Now, old fellow,tell me, where are you wounded?"
"Only in my jacket, I hope," was the reply, given cheerfully enough."Who shot the brute?"
"I did," said Chris.
"You?" cried Griggs. "Then it was not you, Mr Bourne?"
"I? No! I was woke up by the shot, and coming to see, when I wasknocked down by the brute. It fell on me, pinning me to the ground,kicking and struggling the while. I thought I should have beensmothered. Is this its blood all over me?"
"Yes, if you are not torn."
"I'm not hurt that I know of. One of its fangs caught me somewhereabout the collar and tore my jacket right down to the waist."
"No, you can't be wounded," said the doctor, "or you wouldn't talk likethat. Here, Chris, you say you fired?"
"Yes, father," said the boy, and he hurriedly related his experience.
"What an escape for you both!" cried the doctor. "The brute must havebeen desperately wounded by your pistol-shot, Chris, my boy. You hithim hard."
"Couldn't very well miss him at that distance, sir," said Griggs dryly."The brute's lying somewhere about. Look out, every one, for he'll bepretty dangerous."
"He must have gone ever so far," cried Ned, "for I heard the treesbreaking for long enough. But are you quite sure you're not hurt,father?"
"Not a bit, my boy; I only want a wash and another jacket. Ugh! Thisblood is horrible. But I say, Wilton, you're a pretty sort of a fellowto keep guard while we slept!"
"Oh, I was on the lookout for Indians. You didn't say anything aboutbears. What was this one--a grizzly, Griggs?"
"Didn't see it, neighbour, but I shouldn't think it was. Black one orbrown one, I should say. Cinnamon, p'r'aps."
"Why not a grizzly?"
"Because he wouldn't have taken a shot in him so quietly. He'd berampaging about here ready to tear us all to pieces."
"Hadn't we better try and follow up the brute with the lanthorn?"
"I should say not," was the reply. "If he's only wounded he must belying up savage-like, and as soon as he sees the light he'll show fight.If he's badly hurt he may have gone on till he drops, and be nearlydead by now."
"But we can't lie down and go to sleep again after this."
"Well, no, sir," said Griggs coolly; "it don't sound tempting."
"Then you would try and track the brute?"
"Yes, when the sun's up, sir."
"But what shall we do now?"
"Well," said the American, as coolly as could be, "seems to me that thisis just a nice suitable time to sit round the lanthorn and tell bearstories."
"What!" cried the doctor.
"Tell bear stories, sir. Young Chris here might begin by telling hisexperience over again with all the flourishes, crosses, and dots that heleft out. He didn't half tell it, I think."
"Oh, that's absurd," said Wilton. "By the way, though, I didn't hear asound till Chris fired."
"Hadn't dropped asleep, had you?" said Griggs banteringly.
"No, certainly not," said Wilton, angrily.
"Here, every one look to his rifle," said the doctor, "and we'll sittogether and watch and listen. The brute may come back."
This was done in silence for some time, when their patience gettingexhausted, remarks were made about the ponies and mules, and wonder wasexpressed about their not having stampeded.
"Say," said Griggs suddenly, "I forgot all about them. Where are they?"
"Feeding about somewhere, quietly," said the doctor.
"I don't know so much about that," cried Griggs. "P'r'aps one of youwill come with me and the lanthorn, and we'll see. I can't hear any ofthem grass-chopping. Will you come with me, Chris, or have you been toomuch shook up?"
"Oh, I'll come," said Chris quietly. "I don't think I've been too much`shook up.'"
In a few minutes the lanthorn was seen lighting up the rocks and treesin the direction of the best pasturage, where the cattle had been left;and those left in camp watched till it disappeared, waiting anxiouslytill the light was in sight again, and finally came up to where theglowing embers kept on brightening and dying out again as the softbreeze blew down the gully from time to time.
"Can't see or hear anything of the animals," said Griggs, at last, as hestrode up with the light. "Ain't heard any more of Mr B'ar, have you?"
"No," was the reply.
"They were scared off by the shooting, I expect, or else by getting asniff of the b'ar's wound."
"Would they go far?" asked the doctor.
"Can't say, sir, but not so far that we can't follow them by theirtrail."
"It's a great nuisance, just when we had decided to make an early startin the morning. Now everything depends upon our finding the animals andbringing them back."
There was of course no more sleep that night, neither, much as it wasexpected, was there any return of the visitor of the night during thelong hours of the watch.
But the morning broke at last, and as soon as it was light enough theparty began to follow the trail of the bear, starting from the spotwhere Bourne had his alarming adventure, the traces of which were plainenough, the earth and growth being torn up by the brute's claws. Fromthere the spots of blood which had fallen from the bear's wound wereplain enough at intervals, and they were followed for about a quarter ofa mile, where the animal had plunged into the dense forest, where thetrees and undergrowth presented a front that could not be penetrated bya human being, though comparatively easy for a quadruped.
Further pursuit was given up, and the party returned to follow up thetrail of the ponies and mules.
This was found at once, the animals, obeying their gregarious instinct,having, after being alarmed, closed in together for mutual protectionand made off down the gully to the open country and the plains.
Griggs took the lead from old experience of such accidents, and pointedout how the frightened beasts had galloped frantically for miles, then,pretty well exhausted, subsided to a trot, which had been kept up forseveral more before their progress became a walk, with halts here andthere for grazing. In fact, it was several hours before the poor bruteswere sighted right out on the salt plain, and when overtaken and headedoff on the return journey, not even a single mule seemed to make theslightest objection, for they all closed up into a drove and walkedsteadily back, every animal with roughened coat stiffened by dust andready to hang its head with the look of one which had done enough workfor one day.
It was not until the afternoon that the dreary tramp back brought theparty in sight of their last night's camp, and that was not reacheduntil close upon sundown, a long halt having been necessary to water theweary beasts and let them graze.
"I don't think we're going to make much of a start to-day, Griggs," saidChris, with a twinkle in his eyes.
r /> "I know I'm not, squire," said the American. "It seems a shame toneglect human beings for the sake of horses, but it has to be done.Here, I meant to have a few birds for a roast this evening, and now it'sonly tea and fried bacon. But it might be worse, eh?"
"Ever so much," replied Chris. "But I am hungry."
"I say," said Ned, laughingly, "oughtn't some of us to go again and tryto find the bear, while the others light the fire and boil the kettle?"
"No," said Chris. "We had enough bear last night."
"Yes," said Ned, "but that was live bear; I meant slices of him tofrizzle in the pan. Griggs says bear's ham is good."
"So it is, squire, and if we had a haunch of the brute I'd set you anexample to eat it."
"What does it taste like?" said Chris.
"Well, it's rather hard to say. A good fat bear's ham looks rather likea bit of a pig salted and dried; but it doesn't taste like it a bit."
"Like what, then?" cried Chris.
"Something like a mutton ham that has been trying to make-believe thatit had grown on a pig's hind-quarters. 'Tain't bad, but don't you twoget letting your mouths water, because you'll get none to-night. It'stea and cake and a bit o' bacon. That's our tackle this time, and veryglad I shall be to get even that."
In another hour they were quietly enjoying the simple meal, during whichthe doctor said--
"An early start in the morning, boys. You'll be able to sleep to-night,Chris, without dreaming about porcupines and skunks, which were allconsequences of indigestion and the later supper."
"But the bear wasn't, father," said Chris quickly.
"Well, no," said the doctor dryly; "we'll leave out the bear."
"You ought to include it in your lesson on indigestion, though," saidBourne, giving himself a rub. "I didn't eat too heartily last night,but I suffered horribly from bear lying heavily upon my chest."
"My watch to-night," said the doctor; and soon after the camp was oncemore in a state of repose, but Chris Lee had chosen a different positionfor his bed.