CHAPTER XIX--TRAPPED
The confusion among the trappers instantly was almost overwhelming. Theaffection which every member of the party had for the brave littlescout was strong, and all the men were fearful now that with the fallof Kit Carson the destruction of the band might follow. There was noone to take his place as leader.
It was the wounded leader himself, however, who in his quiet tonesreassured his comrades as soon as they had carried him to a place ofsafety. "Don't be scared," he urged them, when they had placed him uponthe blankets which they spread upon the ground.
"Where were you hit?" inquired Reuben, his voice breaking as he spoke.
"The fellow got me in the shoulder," replied Kit Carson. In a momenthis hunting shirt was torn away by his excited friends. The weather wasintensely cold and the blood from his wound had quickly frozen on hisclothing.
After one or two attempts had been made to lay bare the wound, theyoung scout, who was suffering intensely, said: "It will be better ifonly one of you tries to help me." His face was drawn and colourless,but his courage in the midst of his suffering appealed so strongly tohis friends that his directions were instantly followed.
"Go down to the brook," suggested Kit Carson to Reuben, "and bring backyour cap full of water."
At his utmost speed Reuben ran down the slope of the valley to thenoisy brook at its base. In his excitement he dashed into the streamunmindful of the fact that he might obtain the water he desired withoutwetting his own clothing.
He was still unaware, however, of his condition when he rushed back tothe place where his friend was lying, and in a brief time the trapperthat had been designated for the task was washing the leader's wound.
Once during the operation the face of the patient became deadly white.He did not lose consciousness, however, and although he was sufferingintense pain not a murmur escaped his lips. This heroic endurance ofsuffering was one of the cardinal requirements of the hardy men of thefrontier. No one was surprised at their leader's power of endurance,but the fact that he still directed his friends in their efforts to aidhim, sending Reuben several times to the stream for fresh supplies ofwater, nevertheless impressed them all. Throughout this time guards hadtaken their places to make sure that the horde of Indians did not breakthrough and attack them again while they were unprepared. In a brieftime it became manifest that the Indians were unaware of the damagethey had wrought, for they did not offer to advance from the rocksbehind which they had been concealed.
When at last the wound had been bathed and bandaged as best the menwere able, and a hunting shirt from one of the trappers had been tiedabout the shoulders of the suffering man, preparations for the returnto camp were speedily made.
"The best thing to do is to make a litter and take me home on it," saidKit Carson in a low voice. "Cut some poles and swing two of theblankets on them. I think that will be the best way to carry me."
In accordance with these directions a rough hammock-like litter wassoon made and the wounded trapper was tenderly placed upon it. Hisfriends gently lifted the poles to their shoulders and then, afteradvance and rear guards had been established for the little line, theyproceeded on their way back to the camp. Fortunately they were notmolested on their way. Once in the camp, the men no longer were afraid,and quickly a bed was made for their leader upon which he soon wasplaced.
The clean life and the strong constitution of the young trapper nowcame to his assistance. In spite of the fact that the wound was painfulthe precautions which his friends had taken had prevented thedevelopment of serious trouble and not many days had elapsed before KitCarson declared that he was as well as ever. Indeed, only a few weekshad passed before Kit Carson's activities in visiting his traps were asgreat as they had been before his unfortunate adventure with theIndians. It was upon one of his daily rounds, in which Reubenaccompanied him, that the lad gained a fresh insight into the characterof the man of whom now he was intensely fond.
Meat was needed in the camp, and Kit Carson, whose skill as a hunterwas acknowledged by all, promised to provide fresh game. His trapsalready had been visited and much of the day's work had been done whenhe turned to Reuben and said: "Lad, would you like to go with me?"
"Where are you going?" inquired Reuben.
"I want to get some game."
"Yes, I'll have my rifle in a minute."
Hastening into the tent he occupied, Reuben soon returned with hisrifle, powder-horn, and bullet-pouch. Together the two men started ontheir hunt among the mountains. They had not gone far before theydiscovered that they would be able to obtain as many rabbits as theymight desire.
"I want bigger game than that," said Kit Carson dryly. "If you want toturn back you may go, Reuben, but I'm going on a little farther. I haveseen some signs that make me think there are some elk not far away."
"Have you seen their tracks?"
"Yes, there are some now," replied the scout, pointing, as he spoke, tosome spots in the ground before him.
Reuben was unable to discover any resemblance to the track of an elk,even after he had carefully inspected the places indicated, but hisconfidence in his companion was supreme and he quickly said, "I'll goon with you."
He was rejoiced when not long after the advance was resumed they sawnear a clump of trees in the distance a small herd of the animals theywere seeking.
"The thing for us to do," whispered Kit Carson, "is to try to getcloser to those trees. If we once get under cover there I think we canbag two or three."
Cautiously and slowly the two eager hunters worked their way toward thetrees in the distance. Both were aware how keenly alert the elk wereand how difficult it would be for the hunters to obtain the shelterthey were seeking. Frequently the animals lifted their heads and gazedin their direction. Less than a half-hour had elapsed before Kit Carsonsaid abruptly in a low voice: "They have seen us! The only thing to donow is to try to bring down one of them. Be quick, Reuben!"
Both men knelt and aimed at the animals, which already had turned toflee from the place where they were feeding. Together the reports ofthe two guns rang out and a moment later one of the running elk fell tothe ground.
"I missed him," said Reuben dolefully.
"You don't know whether you did or not," laughed Kit Carson. "Only onewas hit, that's plain, but whether it was by your gun or mine no onecan say. Come on, we'll get this one anyway."
Advancing rapidly, the two hunters ran toward the place where the bodyof the elk was lying. They had approached within a few yards of thebody when both young hunters were startled by the sound of branchessnapping in the bushes nearby. As they looked up they saw two immensegrizzly bears advancing upon them. It was instantly clear that thebears were as hungry as the men and that they, too, had been doingtheir utmost to obtain fresh meat. Perhaps also the huge bears wereangry that unexpected rivals had appeared in the hunt. At all events,the only safety for the two young hunters was to seek flight instantly.
Neither had stopped to reload his rifle, so eager had both been to makesure that the elk which had fallen was killed.
Without a word to his companion Kit Carson instantly ran for a nearbytree, leaving Reuben to use his own devices. And Reuben was not slow infollowing the example of his friend. In spite of his fear he recalledthe conversation which he had had with the scout not long before thistime. Kit Carson at that time had declared that it was much better whena man was hunting for him to go alone. In response to the protests ofReuben he had said: "If two go together and something comes up thatmakes it absolutely necessary for quick action, if there are twohunters they will stop and talk before they decide what to do. Theresult will be not only that much valuable time will be lost, but theplan they will follow will probably be neither that of one nor of theother, but a sort of compromise. The only way is for a man not to stopto discuss things when he must make up his mind in a hurry. If he'salone, there won't be any trouble, and he will not only do what hewants to, but probably will do what was the best thing for him to dounder the circumst
ances."
Recollections of this conversation were in Reuben's mind as he ran athis utmost speed toward a sapling he saw not far before him.Fortunately the boy was able to gain the shelter up which he wasconfident the bears would not attempt to climb. It is true they wereable to climb almost any tree which a man could use, but the one inwhich Reuben had sought shelter was so small that he did not believethe lumbering bears would attempt to climb it. He was satisfied, whenat last he rested in a crotch of the tree, that he was twelve feet fromthe ground and beyond the swing of the paws of the angry beasts.
Assured of his safety, Reuben excitedly turned to see what had befallenhis companion. His own gun he had dropped at the base of the tree whenhe had made his ascent. He was therefore without any means of defenseor of aiding his comrade.
Not far away he saw the scout just as he arrived at the base of a tree.Without hesitating a moment Kit Carson nimbly seized a branch and swunghimself up into the tree, while the two bears--for both had started inthe pursuit of the fleeing scout--were several yards behind him.
Excitedly Reuben watched the grizzlies as they bounded forward. Thesteady swing from side to side which marked their course while theywere running had disappeared. Reuben's heart almost stopped beatingwhile he gazed at the awkward and yet swift animals. Would they be ableto reach the tree before the scout could climb higher among thebranches? Reuben speedily was aware that the bears had by no meansabandoned the chase. As soon as they arrived at the base of the treeone of them quickly began its ascent.
The trembling boy was able to see the scout as he drew his knife afterhe had ascended as far up the tree as evidently he had planned to go.Quickly a sturdy branch was cut and trimmed. The grizzly was steadilymounting, but the victim that he was seeking now held a stout club inhis hands and was preparing to defend himself.
"And yet," thought Reuben, "what can Kit Carson do with only a club toprotect himself against the savage brutes?"
The bear which had remained on the ground several times threatened toclimb the tree after its companion. Apparently, however, it wassatisfied to leave to the other bear the task of securing their dinner,or else it was fearful that the tree would not bear the weight of both.
At that moment the climbing bear had approached close to the crotch inwhich Kit Carson was standing. With one arm around the branch thehunter leaned forward in such a way that he was able to lift his cluband look directly down into the face of the savage animal. Suddenlydrawing back with all his force Kit Carson brought his club downdirectly upon the nose of the grizzly.
"The trembling boy was able to see the scout as he drewhis knife"]
The hunter was aware of the fact that there is no part of the body ofthe grizzly bear quite as tender as its nose. Reuben laughed excitedlywhen a roar of pain came from the animal as soon as the blow had beenstruck, and he saw the brute slowly make its way backward down thetree, shaking its head and occasionally roaring with pain in thedescent.
When the bear at last had regained the ground, as if by a mutualunderstanding, the second bear at once began to climb the tree. KitCarson meanwhile had obtained shelter in a crotch somewhat lower thanthe one in which he had first stood. In the place he now occupied hewas able to obtain a greater sweep for his club, while his foothold wasequally safe.
Rapidly the climbing bear came to the place where the hunter waswaiting. Again Kit Carson drew back his club and with the fuller sweepwhich now he was able to obtain he dealt a still more savage blowdirectly upon the nose of the approaching bear.
Again there was a roar of mingled pain and rage, and the grizzly, likeits companion, quickly decided to retreat. As soon as the lumberinganimal, still roaring with pain and shaking its head, regained theground at the base of the tree, its companion, having somewhatrecovered from the results of its former attempt, once more began toclimb.
But Kit Carson, now more confident, met the ascending bear with asecond resounding blow upon its nose. Evidently the spot was somewhattender, for the grizzly emitted a loud roar of pain and with stillgreater haste started to the ground.
Once more the second bear attempted the ascent, but the result whichhad followed its former efforts speedily compelled the attack to beabandoned. Both bears now were steadily shaking their heads, growlingand in pain, and yet neither apparently was inclined to withdraw fromthe spot where they had trapped the scout.