CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
AN ODD ADVENTURE BEFORE BREAKFAST.
They had plenty of meat for their breakfast though--such as it was--andcame nigh paying dearly enough for it.
The three brothers slept lying along the ground within a few feet of oneanother. Their tent was gone, and, of course, they were in the openair. They were under a large spreading tree, and, wrapped in theirblankets, had been sleeping soundly through the night. Day was justbeginning to break, when something touched Francois on the forehead. Itwas a cold, clammy object; and, pressing upon his hot skin, woke him atonce. He started as if a pin had been thrust into him; and the crywhich he uttered awoke also his companions. Was it a snake that hadtouched him? Francois thought so at the moment, and continued to thinkso while he was rubbing his eyes open. When this feat was accomplished,however, he caught a glimpse of some object running off, that could notbe a snake.
"What do you think it was?" inquired Basil and Lucien, in the samebreath.
"A wolf, I think," replied Francois. "It was his cold nose I felt.See! yonder it goes. See--see--there are two of them!"
Francois pointed in the direction in which the two animals were seen torun. Basil and Lucien looked, and saw them as well. They were aboutthe size of wolves, but appeared to be quite black, and not like wolvesat all. What could they be? They had suddenly passed into a darkeraisle among the trees, and the boys had only caught a glimpse of them asthey went in. They could still distinguish their two bodies in theshade, but nothing more. What could they be? Perhaps javalies? Thisthought, no doubt, occurred to the brothers, because of their lateadventure with these animals.
"They are too large, and run too clumsily, for javalies," said Lucien.
"Bears?" suggested Francois.
"No, no; they are not large enough for bears."
All three were puzzled.
They had risen upon their hands and knees, disencumbered themselves oftheir blankets, and each had grasped his gun, which they always keptclose by them when asleep.
They remained in this position, straining their eyes up the gloomy alleyafter the two black objects that had stopped about fifty yards distant.All at once the form of a man rose up before them, and directly in frontof the animals. Instead of retreating from the latter, as the boysexpected, the upright figure stood still. To their furtherastonishment, the two animals ran up to it, and appeared to leap againstit, as if making an attack upon it! But this could not be--since thefigure did not move from its place, as one would have done who had beenattacked. On the contrary, after a while, it stooped down, and appearedto be caressing them!
"A man and two dogs," whispered Francois; "perhaps an Indian!"
"It may be a man," returned Lucien, also speaking in a whisper. "I knownot what else it could be; but those _are no dogs_, or I never sawsuch."
This Lucien uttered with emphasis and in a serious tone, that caused thebrothers to draw closer to each other.
During all this time Marengo stood by, restrained by them from rushingforward. The dog had not awaked until the first cry of Francois rousedhim. He was wearied with the long gallop of the preceding days; and,like his masters, had been sleeping soundly. As all started almostsimultaneously, a word from Basil had kept him in--for to this he hadbeen well trained--and without a signal from him he was not used toattack any creature, not even his natural enemies. He therefore stoodstill, looking steadily in the same direction as they, and at intervalsuttering a low growl that was almost inaudible. There was a fiercenessabout it, however, that showed he did not regard the strange objects asfriends. Perhaps he knew what they were, better than any of the party.
The three mysterious creatures still remained near the same spot, andabout fifty yards from the boys. They did not remain motionless though.The two smaller ones ran over the ground--now separating from theupright figure and then returning again, and appearing to caress it asbefore. The latter now and then stooped, as if to receive theircaresses, and--when they were not by--as though it was gatheringsomething from the ground. It would then rise into an upright position,and remain motionless as before. All their manoeuvres were performed inperfect silence.
There was something mysterious--awe-inspiring in these movements; andour young hunters observed them, not without feelings of terror. Theywere both puzzled and awed. They scarcely knew what course to adopt.They talked in whispers, giving their counsels to each other. Shouldthey creep to their horses, mount, and ride off? That would be of nouse; for if what they saw was an Indian, there were, no doubt, othersnear; and they could easily track and overtake them. They felt certainthat the strange creatures knew they were there--for indeed theirhorses, some thirty yards off, could be plainly heard stamping theground and cropping the grass. Moreover, one of the two animals hadtouched and smelt Francois; so there could be no mistake about _it_being aware of their presence. It would be idle, therefore, to attemptgetting off unawares. What then? Should they climb into a tree? That,thought they, would be of just as little use; and they gave up the idea.They resolved, at length, to remain where they were, until they shouldeither be assailed by their mysterious neighbours, or the clearer lightmight enable them to make out who and what these were.
As it grew clearer, however, their awe was not diminished; for they nowsaw that the upright figure had two thick strong-looking arms, which itheld out horizontally, manoeuvring with them in a singular manner. Itscolour, too, appeared reddish, while that of the small animals was deepblack! Had they been in the forests of Africa, or _South_ instead of_North_ America, they would have taken the larger figure for that of agigantic ape. As it was, they knew it could not be that.
The light suddenly became brighter--a cloud having passed off theeastern sky. Objects could be seen more distinctly, and then themystery, that had so long held the young hunters in torturing suspense,was solved. The large animal reared up and stood with its side towardsthem; and its long pointed snout, its short erect ears, its thick bodyand shaggy coat of hair, showed that it was no Indian nor human creatureof any sort, but _a huge bear standing upright on its hams_.
"A she-bear and her cubs!" exclaimed Francois; "but see!" he continued,"_she_ is red, while the cubs are jet-black!"
Basil did not stop for any observation of that kind. He had sprung tohis feet and levelled his rifle, the moment he saw what the animal was.
"For your life do not fire!" cried Lucien. "It _may be a grizzlybear_!"
His advice came too late. The crack of Basil's rifle was heard; and thebear dropping upon all fours, danced over the ground shaking her headand snorting furiously. The light had deceived Basil; and instead ofhitting her in the head as he had intended, his bullet glanced from hersnout, doing her but little harm. Now, the snout of a bear is its mostprecious and tender organ, and a blow upon that will rouse even the mosttimid species of them to fury. So it was with this one. She saw whencethe shot came; and, as soon as she had given her head a few shakes, shecame in a shuffling gallop towards the boys.
Basil now saw how rashly he had acted, but there was no time forexpressing regrets. There was not even time for them to get to theirhorses. Before they could reach these and draw the pickets, the bearwould overtake them. Some one of them would become a victim.
"Take to the trees!" shouted Lucien; "if it be a grizzly bear, shecannot climb."
As Lucien said this, he levelled his short rifle and fired at theadvancing animal. The bullet seemed to strike her on the flank, as sheturned with a growl and bit the part. This delayed her for a moment,and allowed Lucien time to swing himself to a tree. Basil had thrownaway his rifle, not having time to reload. Francois, when he saw thegreat monster so near, dropped his gun without firing.
All three in their haste climbed separate trees. It was a grove ofwhite oaks, as we have already stated; and these trees, unlike thepines, or magnolias, or cypress-trees, have usually great limbs growinglow down and spreading out horizontally. These limbs are often as manyfeet in l
ength as the tree itself is in height.
It was upon these that they had climbed--Basil having taken to that oneunder which they had slept, and which was much larger than the othersaround. At the foot of this tree the bear stopped. The robes andblankets drew her attention for the moment. She tossed them over withher great paws, and then left them, and walked round the trunk, lookingupward, at intervals uttering loud "sniffs," that sounded like the"'scape" of a steam-pipe. By this time Basil had reached the third orfourth branch from the ground. He might have gone much higher; but,from what Lucien had suggested, he believed the animal to be a grizzlybear. Her colour, which was of a fern or fulvous brown, confirmed himin that belief--as he knew that grizzly bears are met with of a greatvariety of colours. He had nothing to fear then, even on the lowestbranch, and he thought it was no use going higher. So he stopped andlooked down. He had a good view of the animal below; and to hisconsternation he saw at a glance that it was _not_ a grizzly, but adifferent species. Her shape, as well as general appearance, convincedhim it was the "cinnamon" bear--a variety of the black, and one of thebest tree-climbers of the kind. This was soon put beyond dispute, asBasil saw the animal throw her great paws around the trunk, and commencecrawling upward!
It was a fearful moment. Lucien and Francois both leaped back to theground, uttering shouts of warning and despair. Francois picked up hisgun, and without hesitating a moment ran to the foot of the tree, andfired both barrels into the hips of the bear. The small shot hardlycould have penetrated her thick shaggy hide. It only served to irritateher afresh, causing her to growl fiercely; and she paused for somemoments, as if considering whether she would descend and punish the"enemy in the rear," or keep on after Basil. The rattling of the latteramong the branches above decided her, and on she crawled upward.
Basil was almost as active among the branches of a tree as a squirrel ora monkey. When about sixty feet from the ground, he crawled out upon along limb that grew horizontally. He chose this one, because he sawanother growing above it, which he thought he might reach as soon as thebear followed him out upon the first; and by this means get back to themain trunk before the bear, and down to the ground again. After gettingout upon the limb, however, he saw that he had miscalculated. Thebranch upon which he was, bending down under his weight, so widened thedistance between it and the one above, that he could not reach thelatter, even with the tips of his fingers. He turned to go back. Tohis horror the bear was at the other end in the fork, and _preparing tofollow him along the limb_!
He could not go back without meeting the fierce brute in the teeth.There was no branch below within his reach, and none above, and he wasfifty feet from the ground. To leap down appeared the only alternativeto escape the clutches of the bear, and that alternative was certaindeath!
The bear advanced along the limb. Francois and Lucien screamed below,loading their pieces as rapidly as they could; but they feared theywould be too late.
It was a terrible situation; but it was in such emergencies that thestrong mind of Basil best displayed itself; and, instead of yielding todespair, he appeared cool and collected. His mind was busy examiningevery chance that offered.
All at once a thought struck him; and, obedient to its impulse, hecalled to his brothers below,--
"A rope! a rope! Fling me a rope! Haste! for heaven's sake haste! arope, or I am lost!"
Fortunately, there lay a rope under the tree. It was a raw-hide lasso,used in packing Jeanette. It lay by the spot where they had slept.
Lucien dropped his half-loaded rifle, and sprang towards it, coiling itas he took it up. Lucien could throw a lasso almost as well as Basilhimself; and that was equal to a Mexican "vaquero" or a "gaucho" of thePampas. He ran nearly under the limb, twirled the lasso around hishead, and launched it upwards.
Basil, to gain time, had crept out upon the limb as far as it would bearhim, while his fierce pursuer followed after. The branch, under theirunited weight, bent downward like a bow. Fortunately, it was oak, anddid not break.
Basil was astride, his face turned to the tree and towards his pursuer.The long snout of the latter was within three feet of his head, and hecould feel her warm breath, as with open jaws she stretched forward,snorting fiercely.
At this moment the ring-end of the lasso struck the branch directlybetween them, passing a few feet over it. Before it could slip backagain, and fall off, the young hunter had grasped it; and with thedexterity of a packer, double-knotted it around the limb. The nextmoment, and just as the great claws of the bear were stretched forth toclutch him, he slipped off the branch, and glided down the lasso.
The rope did not reach the ground by at least twenty feet! It was ashort one, and part of it had been taken up in the hasty knotting.Lucien and Francois, in consternation, had observed this from below, assoon as it first hung down. They had observed it, and preparedthemselves accordingly; so that, when Basil reached the end of the rope,he saw his brothers standing below, and holding a large buffalo-skinstretched out between them. Into this he dropped; and the next momentstood upon the ground unhurt.
And now came the moment of triumph. The tough limb, that had been heldretent by Basil's weight, becoming so suddenly released, flew upwardwith a jerk.
The unexpected violence of that jerk was too much for the bear. Herhold gave way; she was shot into the air several feet upwards, andfalling with a dull heavy sound to the earth, lay for a momentmotionless! She was only stunned however, and would soon have struggledup again to renew the attack; but, before she could regain her feet,Basil had laid hold of Francois' half-loaded gun; and, hurriedly pouringdown a handful of bullets, ran forward and fired them into her head,killing her upon the spot!
The cubs by this time had arrived upon the ground, and Marengo, who hadnow partially recovered, by way of revenging himself for the castigationhe had received from their mother, attacked them with fury. The littlecreatures fought fiercely; and, together, would have been more than amatch for Marengo; but the rifles of his masters came to his assistance,and put an end to the contest.