CHAPTER V.
THE BIG BLACK BEAR.
Joe had never before met a black bear in the open air, but he had seenseveral in menageries and studied them at a safe distance, and herealized that he was in a perilous position. The bear looked bothuntamed and fierce and as if nothing would suit him better than to hugthe lad to death and eat him up afterward.
Joe did not stand upon the order of his going, but went instantly,running as fast as his tired limbs would permit. After him came thebear, and it was astonishing what good time the beast could makeconsidering his size and his general appearance of clumsiness. Lookingover his shoulder, the lad soon saw that the beast was slowly but surelylessening the distance between them.
"Shoo!" he yelled, and waved his arm threateningly, but the bear did notmind in the least. He trotted on until less than two rods separated boyand beast. Then Joe reached some underbrush and rocks, with alow-hanging tree in their midst, and without stopping to think twice heclimbed into the tree and to one of the upper branches.
Hardly had he reached what he thought might prove a temporary place ofsafety when he realized his mistake. The bear came up the tree afterhim,--slowly, it is true; but still up,--and this caused Joe's hair tofairly stand upon end.
"I'm a gone one now!" he groaned, and then espied another tree growingnot far away. A limb could just be reached, and as the bear almostgained the boy's foot Joe swung himself from the first tree into thesecond.
As the lad gained a safe spot on the tree limb, the bear, coming to ahalt on the branch opposite, set up a growl of rage and disappointment.For a minute he surveyed the situation, then came out on the branchslowly, testing it inch by inch. As it bent down he retreated, lettingout a second growl, louder than the other.
Joe was wondering if he could drop to the ground and escape in thatmanner, when he saw the bear descend and come quickly toward the tree hewas on. He watched the beast closely, and waited until it was close tohim. Then he made a leap back into the tree from which he had originallycome.
Again the bear came out as far as possible on a limb, and again he letout a growl of rage and disappointment. In one way the situation wascomical, and Joe might have laughed had he not felt so serious.
"We can keep this up a long time, I reckon," thought the boy. "And aslong as you don't try to leap after me I'll be safe."
Finding he could not reach the boy by coming up one tree or the other,the black bear descended slowly to the ground. Then he walked aroundboth trees several times, and at last came to a halt between the two.Here he sank down, as if to rest, but nevertheless kept one eye open andfixed upon Joe.
"He's going on guard! He means to keep me treed!" muttered the boy, andagain his heart sank. He remembered a story he had once read, in which abear had starved a man to death and eaten him afterward. Would Mr. Bruindo so in this case?
He wished he had a pistol, or a hunting-knife, or even a fair-sizedstone. But he had nothing except a thin club, which he had cut forhimself with his jackknife. This he kept in hand, and also kept theknife open and where he could get at it readily if needed.
Half an hour went by,--a time that to Joe seemed a whole day,--andstill the black bear remained between the two trees, dozing with one eyeand watching with the other.
The sight of the beast taking it so easy was maddening under thecircumstances, and at last the youth cut another club and hurled it downon top of the bear. At once the beast flew up with a roar, and, standingon his hind legs, snapped his teeth at Joe. Then he flew up the treeonce more, faster than ever before.
As the bear came up, Joe went higher than before, having seen anotherfriendly limb over his head. He was sorely tempted to reach for thebeast with his club, but thought best not to run too much of a risk.
As before, the youth swung to the next tree, and again the bear gave agrowl and went down. Then, being near the top of the tree, the lad tooka good look around.
In a moment a sight caught his eye which caused his heart to jump withdelight. There on the trail were Darry and old Benson, riding alongslowly.
"Hi! hi! This way!" he shouted, with all the strength of his lungs."This way, Darry! This way, Benson!"
He saw his cousin and the guide bring their steeds to a halt and gazearound in wonder. To them the voice appeared to come out of the veryair itself.
"It's Joe's voice!" exclaimed Darry. "But I must say I don't see him."
Both gazed around, and at last the scout caught sight of the boy'shandkerchief fluttering among the tree branches.
"There he is!" he exclaimed. "But what's he doing up there?"
"This way!" went on Joe, and as they turned in the direction, he added,"Look out for the bear!"
"A bear!" came from Darry. "He must be treed!"
"I reckon you've struck it," muttered Benson, and hastily unslung hisrifle, at which Darry did the same. "Follow me, but be on your guard,"went on the old scout.
He advanced with caution, his horse lifting his ears sharply as theneighborhood of the trees was gained. Presently the animal came to asudden halt. At the same moment Benson caught sight of the bear.
"So that's where ye are!" muttered the old scout.
The bear raised himself on his hind legs and let out a growl at thenewcomers. Hardly had the sound arose upon the air when Benson's riflecracked, and a bullet hit the beast in the breast. Down went the animalon all fours, but did not tumble further. Instead, he made a swift boundfor the scout's horse.
Crack! It was now Darry's rifle that spoke up, and the bear was hitagain, this time in the right front knee. He dropped, but quickly arose,shaking the wounded leg in the air and uttering a tremendous roar ofpain and rage.
"NOW DARRY'S RIFLE SPOKE UP, AND THE BEAR WAS HIT AGAIN"]
Neither horse would now stand still, and both danced around so livelythat each rider had all he could do to keep his saddle. But even whilehis steed pranced in this fashion, old Benson managed to draw hispistol, and two additional shots rang out, both hitting the bear in theside. The roars of the beast were now incessant, and the horsesthreatened to bolt in spite of all the riders could do to stop them.
"Come!" cried the old scout, and turned from the scene. Thinking hemeant to go off to reload, Darry followed. But when at a safe distanceBenson sprang to the ground and tied his horse to a tree.
"I'd rather finish him afoot," explained the old hunter, and slippedanother cartridge into his rifle. "You can stay here if you wish."
"Not much!" murmured Darry, and came down also. In a minute he wasfollowing the old scout. When they came up a second time they found thebear crawling around, roaring in a lower tone. Evidently he was morethan half exhausted.
"Another good shot will finish him," sang out Joe, from a bottom limb ofthe tree. "Why don't you give it to him in the ear?"
"I will," answered the old scout, and circled around, watching hisopportunity. At length it came--the rifle cracked sharply, and Bruinfell on his side, to rise no more.
"Hurrah! That's a big haul!" cried Darry, much delighted. "I was wishingwe'd get a bear some time while we were out here."
"It's lucky the bear didn't get Joe," remarked Benson. "They generallycome up a tree after their victim."
"I jumped from one tree to the other," answered the youth. "But I hadquite an exciting time, I can assure you."
"How in the world did you get here?" questioned Darry, as Joe leaped tothe ground. "Did you get through to another cave? Benson thought thatmight be the case."
"That was the case, Darry. And I've had a wonderful adventure, too,"added Joe earnestly. Then he told his story, to which the otherslistened with close attention. When he came to mention Gilroy, Fetter,and Potts, old Benson uttered a low whistle.
"So that gang has turned up again, eh?" muttered the old scout. "Thiswill be news to Colonel Fairfield. I reckon he'll be glad to be put onguard. If the quartermaster was held up it would prove a big loss."
"Is it true that Colonel Fairfield killed this Gilroy's chum?"
"Perha
ps he did. The colonel was in that mix-up, and after it was overDan Hickey was found dead in the bushes. But it was a fair fight, andthe desperadoes knew what to expect when they went in for it."
"When does the quartermaster expect to come through with the money?"
"I don't know, Joe. Like as not it will be soon. And that being thecase, we had better not lose time here, but get to the fort just as soonas we can," concluded the old scout.