CHAPTER VI.
THE BIGGEST BEAR IN THE WORLD.
As soon as the Boy Scouts had set foot on land Swiftwater drew the boysabout him and assigned certain of the camp duties to each, directing theIndians, however, to the heaviest tasks of "making camp." A large numberof stones were gathered at the highest point of the sand and gravel, and arough fireplace constructed. Two of the Indians, under the direction ofRand were sent across a short strip of meadow, which intervened betweenthe point and the adjacent forest, for a supply of firewood. Rand took hisrifle along under Swiftwater's direction, for protection, and with thesuggestion that he might see something worth shooting, although he wasenjoined not to meddle with moose or caribou.
"Not that I think ye'll see any," said Swiftwater, "for they're mightyscarce here, but it's a poor time of year for the meat. Still, there's afew cats and other varmints in this section of the country that don't likestrangers, and they make it lively for you."
"Do the cats belong to the Indians?" innocently inquired Jack, rememberingthe aborigines' fondness for dogs.
Swiftwater laughed.
"I never seen an Injun that cared to keep one of 'em longer'n he could letgo of it," said the miner. "I'm talkin' of lynxes and the lou'g'rou (loupgarou), the Injun Devil, that is still pretty thick in this country."
The Indians who had come with the expedition were no exception to fondnessfor dogs, and had brought two shaggy, short-eared, long-nosed brutes withthem that had never barked or uttered a sound except to snarl at anystranger who came near them and absolutely refused to make friends withanyone. One of these accompanied Rand and the two Indians into the woodsand began nosing around in the bush and underbrush, while the two men wereengaged in cutting light wood into short lengths and tying it together inbundles.
They accumulated nearly two hundred pounds apiece; loads that Rand doubtedtheir ability to lift, much less carry to camp. They were about ready tostart back when there came from a thicket forty yards distant a shrillscream that sounded like a child in distress. At the same moment the yelpof a dog was followed by a succession of snarls and screams so nearlyhuman that Rand started toward the thicket crying:
"Quick, the dog is worrying a child."
"Na, cat; killum malamute," and with his axe in his hand the Indian rushedahead of Rand into the thicket.
As Rand entered the brush the sounds of the struggles and the snarls andscreams were intermixed with the loud commands of the Indian to the dog.Rand raised his rifle as he burst through the brush after the guide, andsaw the dog and a mass of gray fur mixed up in a writhing rolling combatthat tore up the grass and raised a cloud of dust and mold and leaves.Before he could get a chance at a shot the Indian had dashed in and with asingle blow of his axe had ended the fight.
When the dog's owner succeeded in separating the dog from the dead animal,no small task, for the former was made furious by the wounds he hadreceived, Rand saw the prey to be a short, heavy creature with stumpy tailand tassled ears.
"Wild cat," muttered the Indian, turning the dead animal over with hismocassin, so that its formidable claws could be seen, "easy killum dog."
Examining the wounds of the dog, which were not serious, he pointed to thecat and administered several severe kicks to the dog, which ran snarlingtoward the camp, while the guide picked up the body and returned to wherehis companion stood fastening his bundle, having apparently taken nointerest in the contest. There was a short exchange of gutterals and theneach of the Indians stooping down placed a band of strong cloth around hisforehead, slipped it under the cord around the wood, and, with the aid ofhis companion, easily raised it to his back and walked off to camp as ifit was a burden of no moment.
"Well, I see ye met up with a cat," said Swiftwater, as Rand and theIndians returned, "and at that ye only got the smallest of the tribe."
"If the others can fight any harder than this specimen, I don't believe Iwant to meet any of them. I thought there was a child in the thicket."
"Lots of these cat varmints have voices jest like a human. Ye can't tell apanther from a squallin' child sometimes."
Bacon, canned beef, potatoes and coffee had already been brought from theboats and the Indians soon had a rousing fire which soon heated the stonesto red heat. Three of these had been joined together to make a sort ofthree corner oven and into this the potatoes were placed, while overanother portion of the fire the bacon was fried and the coffee boiled.
A large tarpaulin had been brought ashore and spread upon the sands, andupon this, or upon stones placed thereon, the party seated themselves andate their repast from tin or thin wooden plates. A day of excitement andvigorous exercise had furnished them with strong appetites and the rathercoarse food of the camp was greatly relished.
Arrangements for the night had been made by raising a large tarpaulin overone of the boats upon several of the crossed bars, forming a sort ofshelter under which were spread several of the light mattresses that werepart of the equipment; and Swiftwater directed that the Scouts should all"turn in" to this improvised barracks together, while he and Skookum Joeretired to the other boat. The Indians were given several small canvascoverings known in the army as "dog tents," and were to sleep around thefire, which one of them was delegated to replenish during the night.
The attraction of the big campfire and the beautiful clear sky overheadfilled the boys with aspirations to "camp out," and they were ratherinclined to grumble at Swiftwater's orders compelling them to sleep on theboat.
With the growing soldier spirit of the Scouts, they resented beingcoddled, as Gerald chose to express it, and he voiced the sentiment of thepatrol when he said:
"Why can't we sleep by the fire, Swiftwater? I feel as if I was being sungto and then tucked in same as I used to be at home."
"Ye'll have camping out enough before ye're through with the woods; andI'm not going to take any chances with all that tundra over there, andthat swamp back beyond of starting the season with six fine cases ofmalaria on my hands. Until ye're a little better acclimated and a littlemore hardened, it's better for ye to sleep with a board or two underyou."
The good sense of the old scout's argument as well as a fine appreciationof the miner's thoughtfulness for their welfare led the boys to at onceacquiesce, and Rand voiced their appreciation.
Although it was early in the season, and the insect world had hardlyawakened to life, there were a sufficient number of mosquitos about toremind the boys of Colonel's Snow's injunction regarding the supply ofnettings, and Jack, after several vigorous slaps, murmured sleepily:
"Gee, that certainly sounded like a voice from home."
"They've got the good old Jersey accent," replied Jack.
"Straight from the Hackensack meadows," said Rand, referring to the oncemost favored habitat of the mosquito in the East.
"I hae ma doots," said Don, "if that is a mosquito I killed just noo. Ithink it was some new kind of night bird."
How long he had been asleep Jack did not know, when he was aroused by thegrowling of the two dogs on the shore, and crawled out from under thetarpaulin. The night was clear, and there was a fine starlight. In theEast there was the faintest glimmer of dawn. The fire on shore had dieddown, but the embers still shone. The Indian who had been on watch hadrisen from his seat and followed the dogs, which had run growling up thestrip of sand toward the meadow which lay between the water and the woods.Evidently there was some game in sight, and Jack crawled back under thetarpaulin and grasped his rifle, a Remington repeater. He did not arouseany of the others as he had really seen nothing, and was a littlesensitive to possible ridicule.
He ran up the gangplank and stepped ashore. The other Indians were stillasleep and Jack took the trail of the sentinel, whom he could dimly see inthe distance.
The latter turned as he heard Jack's footsteps on the gravel, and waitedfor him.
"What is it?" asked Jack.
"No know," replied the Indian, "maybe bear, dogs no fight, only growl."
Dimly thro
ugh the dawn Jack could make out a black mass lumbering slowlydown through the meadow toward them. The dogs ran around it in circles,merely growling and offering no attack. At a word from the Indian,however, they ran in snarling on the animal, which stopped, and with aloud "woof" reared up on its haunches, showing an enormous height.
"Bear; shootum," cried the Indian, who had only an ax with him. Jackraised his rifle and fired, and as the bear dropped on all fours firedanother shot.
The animal let out a snarling cry, and, grasping one of the dogs which hadventured within reach of its enormous paws, squeezed the life out of itbefore it could let out a cry. The Indian gave a yell and ran in on theenormous animal, and with a well-directed blow of the ax split its skullopen between the eyes. At the same time Jack, as a precaution, firedanother shot into the creature's open mouth, and it rolled motionless onits side.
The shots and the cries of the Indian had aroused every one on the twoboats, and Swiftwater and Skookum Joe came running over the sands, riflesin hand. By this time the early dawn of the high latitude had rendered allobjects visible, and the boys had also joined Jack and the Indian, who wascircling cautiously around the huge brute, trying to ascertain the fate ofthe dog, which was still clasped in the death clutch of the now motionlessanimal.
"Ha," exclaimed Swiftwater, "a kodiak, and a corker; the biggest one Iever saw. You fellers were lucky to get him on the first shot, for thatbreed can make an awful mess if they start to fight. Hey, Skookum, catchhold and let's flop him over."
Having satisfied themselves that the bear was dead, the miner and theguide, with the aid of the Indians, moved the enormous mass which, withthe Indian's blow, had slumped down upon its hindquarters. With thegreatest difficulty they succeeded in straightening it out. The Indian doghad been squeezed into a shapeless mass, and, ascertaining this, theIndian gave it no further attention for the time being.
"Mighty good thing you had a softnosed bullet in that rifle," saidSkookum, pointing to the gaping wound in the breast of the bear. "Thatspread, and did the business right away. A steel jacketed bullet wouldhave gone straight through and would not have done so much harm. Then youmight have been where the dog was."
Jack, who had been seized with a sort of buck fever after he realized whathe had shot, was trembling with excitement as he received the almostenvious congratulations of his friends.
"Begorra, we'll courtmartial you and drop ye from the Patrol," saidGerald, "if ye insist grabbing all the glory for yourself this way. Whydon't you let us know when you are going out after adventures?"
"Yes, this is the second time that you have gone knight-erranting by yourlone," said Dick, "and I can see nothing for it. If this Patrol of BoyScouts is to get any chance to make a reputation it will have to put Mr.Jack Blake on a leash, and tie him to our wrists when we lie down tosleep."
"Weel, if that big bear or whatever it is, is really dead, ye've certainlymade a better job of it than ye did with Monkey," exclaimed Don, and, withthe laugh that followed, poor Jack felt that the ridiculousness of thatepisode on the steamer had been practically wiped out.
Swiftwater and Skookum measured the huge brown carcass that lay stretchedon the sand before them, and found it to be nearly ten feet from tip totip. They guessed its weight to be about eight hundred pounds.
"That's about the limit," said Skookum, "tho' I did hear of a skin oncethat measured thirteen feet."
"Well, Jack," said Swiftwater, "you've killed the largest meat-eatingcritter, in the world--carnivorous I think ye call it. There's none biggerthan the big brown bear of Alaska. Some say he isn't so fierce as thegrizzly, but he is nearly twice as big, and there's certain seasons thathe'll fight at the drop of the hat, as the sayin' goes. I never see one sofar from the coast before. He's called a kodiak because he hangs out downon Kodiak Island and on the Alaska and Kenai peninsulas."
"Yes," said Skookum Joe, "he likes salmon better than a Siwash, and he seton the river bank and fish for himself all day long."
"Smellum salmon," spoke up one of the Indians, pointing to the fire wheresome skin of the rough, Indian smoked fish had been thrown by theaborigines the night before.
"Wa-al," said Swiftwater, with a grin at the Indian, "I reckon they could'smellum' some o' that seal oil o' yours down to Seattle."
The Indians set swiftly to work while the boys looked on curiously, andsoon had the enormous brown hide of the animal off the body. The latterthey cut up and such portions as were available they put aboard the boats.A few steaks were cooked for the boys for breakfast, but, as Swiftwatersuggested, they found the meat dry and tough and very lean. The Indiansseemed to relish it, however, and the remaining dog ate enormously.
Swiftwater promised Jack that as soon as they reached their destination hewould arrange for the proper curing of the skin which he could have as atrophy.
"No," said Jack, "that goes to the Patrol for the floor of our room backin Creston, and if there is any glory attached to this matter that don'treally belong to that Indian with the ax, I shall be glad to hand thatover to the Patrol."
As they had all been aroused so early, Swiftwater gave orders for animmediate start up Gold Creek as soon as breakfast was over, that theymight get in a long day and possibly reach their destination before night.Just as they were aboard and were about casting off, one of the Indianswho had disappeared for a time came running down to the water with a smallbundle of fur in each hand. One was the skin of the wild cat killed thenight before; the other the skin of his dog crushed to death by the bearthat morning.