CHAPTER THIRTY.
AN ESCAPE FROM THE BEAR-SCRAPE.
For hours they sat upon their painful perch--now glancing downward atthe fierce gaoler that watched unweariedly below--now gazing out uponthe plain, where the dusky droves still continued to move. For hoursthe buffaloes kept passing northward, until the setting sun glancedredly from their brown bodies. Once or twice again the boys thoughtthey saw white ones in the herd; but their eyes had grown dim withwatching, and the pain which they endured now rendered them indifferentto aught else than their own misery. Despair had conquered hope--forthey were choking with thirst--and death stared them in the face.
After a long while the bear again lay down, and placing his fore-pawsover his head appeared once more to sleep. Basil could stand it nolonger; and now resolved to make an effort to escape. At all events hewould try to bring about some change in their painful situation.
Cautioning his brothers to remain silent, he slipped down from his tree;and, with the stealthy tread of a cat, crept over the ground in searchof his rifle. He soon laid hands upon it; and then, returning to histree, climbed up again. The shaking of the branches as he did so, awokethe bear; who sprang to his feet, and rushed towards the tree. Had hebeen a moment sooner, it would have been ill for Basil, for the snout ofthe animal, as he reared upward against the trunk, almost touched theboy's feet. It was an "inch of a miss as good as a mile," and Basil wassaved. The next moment he was seated among the branches, and leisurelyloading his rifle!
Strange to say, the bear appeared to comprehend this movement. As ifaware of his danger, he kept out farther from the trees; and, whilerambling about, now, for the first time, stumbled upon what remained ofthe carcasses of the big-horns. These he proceeded to tear up, anddevour. He was still within range of the rifle, though not for a sureshot; but Basil, who knew he could load again, was determined either toforce him farther off, or bring him within reach; and with this intenthe took aim and fired. The bullet hit the bear in the fore-shoulder,for he was seen to turn his head and tear at the spot with his teeth,all the while growling with rage and pain. Strange to say, he stillcontinued to devour the meat!
Again Basil loaded and fired as before. This time the animal receivedthe shot about the head, which caused him to make fresh demonstrationsof his fury. He dropped his prey, and galloped back among the trees,first clutching one and then another, making repeated efforts to dragthem down. He at length came to Basil's tree, and seized it in hisfierce hug. This was exactly what the young hunter wanted. He hadhastily reloaded, and as the bear stood upright under the branches, heleant downwards until the muzzle of his rifle almost touched the snoutof the animal. Then came the report--a stream of fire was poured intothe very face of the bear--and a crashing sound followed. As the smokecleared off, the huge body was seen kicking and sprawling upon theground. The leaden messenger had done its work. It had passed throughthe brain; and in a few seconds the shaggy monster lay motionless uponthe earth.
The boys now dropped from the trees. Francois and Lucien ran for theirguns, and all three having loaded with care, proceeded toward theravine. They stayed not to examine the enemy that had been slain.Thirst urged them on, and they thought only of getting to the springbelow. They were full of hope that the she-bear and her cub had beenkilled by their first fire, and that they would now find the road clear.
What was their disappointment when, on looking down the ravine, they sawthe cub lying doubled up, near the bottom, and the old one standingsentry over it! The cub was evidently dead. So much the worse--as themother would not now leave it for a moment, and both were directly inthe path. The latter was moving backward and forward upon a ledge ofrock, at intervals approaching the cub and tossing its body with hersnout, and then uttering a low querulous moan, that was painful tolisten to!
The hunters saw at once that their situation was as bad as ever. Theirretreat was cut off by the infuriated mother, who might remain where shewas for an indefinite time. Should they fire down upon her, and takethe chances of once more escaping to the trees? This was an alternativewhich they had reason to dread. Their painful experience decided themagainst it. What then? Remain until after night-fall, and try to stealpast in the darkness? Perhaps the bear might retire to her cave, andgive them an opportunity to do so. But in the meantime they were dyingof thirst!
At this moment a happy idea suggested itself to Lucien. He saw thecactus plants growing near. There were large globes of theechinocactus. He remembered having read that these often assuaged thethirst of the desert traveller. The plants were soon reached, and theirsucculent masses laid open by the knives of the hunters. The coolwatery fibres were applied to their lips; and in a few minutes theirthirst was alleviated and almost forgotten. Still the bear occupied theravine, and so long as she remained there, there was no possible chanceof their getting back to camp. They saw, however, that they could donothing better than wait for the night, in hopes that the darkness mightbring about something in their favour.
Night soon came on, but not darkness. It chanced to be a clearmoonlight; and they saw at once that it would then be quite as perilousto go down the ravine as it had been during the day. They could hearthe snorting and growling of the monster below; and they knew she stillheld the pass. Should they attempt to descend, she would discover themlong before they could get down. She could hear them clambering amongthe rocks and bushes. The advantage would be hers, as she could attackthem unawares. Besides, even had the coast been quite clear, they wouldhave found it difficult to get down the steep descent in the night.They dared not attempt it. After much deliberation, therefore, theyresolved to wait for the morning.
Throughout all the live-long night they kept awake. They heard theirsteeds neighing below--wondering, poor brutes, what had become of theirmasters. The hinny of Jeanette echoed wildly from the cliffs, and wasanswered by the bark and howl of the prairie-wolf. These sounds,together with the more ominous snort of the bear, kept sleep from theeyes of our adventurers. They dared not go to sleep, unless by perchingthemselves in the trees; as they knew not the moment the bear might comeup to the summit. Sleeping upon the slender branch of a mountain pineis more painful than pleasant; and all three preferred keeping awake.
Morning broke at length. The first light showed that the shaggysentinel was still at her post. She sat upon the same spot, as thoughshe was guarding her dead offspring. The young hunters, butparticularly Basil, began to grow impatient. They were hungry, thoughthere were still left some fragments of the wild mutton, which theycould have eaten. But they were thirsty as well. The juice of thecactus allayed, but did not quench, their thirst. They longed for adraught of cool water from the spring below. The buffaloes, too, weregone northward, "on the run." They might never overtake them. Theymight never again have such an opportunity of procuring that for whichthey had endured all this suffering. These thoughts influenced allthree, but Basil more than any. Some attempt must be made to reach theplain, and escape from their elevated prison.
Basil proposed provoking the bear, by firing upon her. She would pursuethem, he urged, as the other had done, and meet with a similar fate.This might have succeeded, but it would have been a dangerousexperiment. Lucien suggested that two of them should go round the edgeof the precipice and examine it more carefully, while the third kept awatch upon the bear. Perhaps there might yet be found some other paththat led to the plain. This offered but a faint hope; still it wouldtake only a few minutes to make the examination, and Lucien's proposalwas therefore agreed to.
"If we only had a rope," suggested Francois, "we could let ourselvesover the cliff, and then the old grizzly might stay there for ever, ifshe pleased."
"Ha!" shouted Basil, as if some plan had suddenly come into his mind,"what dunces we have been! Why did we not think of it before? Come,brothers! I'll get you down in the twinkling of an eye--come!"
As Basil uttered these words, he strode off towards the spot where theyhad butchered
the big-horns. On reaching it he drew his hunting-knife;and having spread out one of the skins, proceeded to cut it into strips.Lucien, at once guessing his design, assisted him in the operation;while Francois was sent back to the head of the ravine, in order towatch the bear.
In a few minutes the brothers had cut up both of the hides, until theground was covered with long strips. These they knotted firmlytogether--placing cross-pieces of pine branches in the knots--until theyhad made a raw-hide rope over one hundred feet in length!
They now proceeded to a convenient point of the cliff--where a pine-treegrew near its edge--and tied one end of the new-made rope around thetrunk. To the other end they fastened Marengo, the three guns--forFrancois had arrived upon the ground--and, along with these, a largestone--in order to test the strength of the rope before any ofthemselves should venture upon it. All these things were now lowereddown until they could see them resting upon the prairie below.
The rope was next made taut above; and the weight of the stone--whichwas too heavy for Marengo to move--kept all fast below. Francoisslipped down the rope first. There was but little difficulty in hisdoing so; as the pieces of wood formed rests, or steps, that preventedhim from sliding too fast. Lucien followed next, and then Basil; sothat in less than half an hour, from the time that this plan of escapehad occurred to them, all three found themselves safe upon the level ofthe prairie!
They did not waste time when they had got there. Marengo was released,and the whole party hurried in the direction of their horses. Thesewere soon reached, caught, and saddled; and our hunters, now that theycould mount at any moment they pleased, felt themselves safe.
They resolved, however, to remain no longer by the butte, but to rideaway from it, as soon as they had eaten a morsel. A small fire was,therefore, kindled; and a piece of bear-meat, hastily broiled, satisfiedtheir hunger. Basil would have gone back on horseback, to attack theold she-bear in the ravine; but the more prudent Lucien dissuaded him;and, holding their horses in readiness, they packed their campequipments upon Jeanette, and once more took the route.