CHAPTER IV.
"OLD DAVY."
It was a long time before the boys ceased to wonder at the singularstory they had just heard. They discussed it while they were ridingtoward the mountains; but after they had all expressed an opinion,they were as much in the dark as they had been before. They could notunderstand it at all. Dick Thomas declared that old Bob must havefallen asleep while he was watching the rancho, and that the bridge ofclouds, the streaks of fire, and the boat that was ferried across thecreek without hands, were things which he had seen only in his dreams.Such incidents, he said, might have happened in feudal times, and insome old castle which had been built with secret doors and dungeonsand passage-ways; but no one need try to make him believe that theycould take place at that late day, in a civilized country, and in ahouse that had been erected simply for a dwelling. It was ridiculous.Johnny said that was his opinion, too; but Frank and Archie, who knewthat the old trapper was not the man to fall asleep while watching foran enemy, were confident that something unusual and exciting had beengoing on at Don Carlos' rancho. Bob was a very ignorant man, and ofcourse he was superstitious. He believed in signs and omens, and anything he could not account for was sure to frighten him. This may haveled him to exaggerate the occurrences at the rancho, but, for allthat, they knew that he had been a witness to some strange scenes.
"Old Bob didn't make up that story," said Archie, decidedly, "and henever dreamed it, either. He saw something, and I'll know what it wasbefore I am two days older. It's my opinion that that old Spaniard hasgot my horse: and if he has, he must give him up, or there'll be abigger fuss in this settlement than there was when the Indiansattacked it years ago."
But all thoughts of Don Carlos and his rancho, and the mysteriousthings that had happened there, were soon driven out of their minds;for, by this time, they had reached the spring near which Frank,Archie, and Johnny had been captured by Pierre and his band, and therethey found the trap of which they were in search. It was built ofheavy logs, with a movable top, like the lid of a box, to which, whenthe trap was set, a "trigger" was adjusted, in such a manner that,when the bait was removed, the top would fall down, confining the bearin the pen. The boys thought that Old Davy must have possessed immensepower of muscle to work his way out of that trap. He had left themarks of his great claws and teeth on the logs, and there were theprints of his feet where he had passed along the muddy bank of thespring into the woods.
Frank and his companions sat in their saddles looking at the trap,while the dogs, with all the bristles on their backs sticking straightup, ran about in a state of intense excitement. The boys were allthinking about the same thing: and that was, if they dared to send onthe dogs, and could find and shoot Old Davy, what a feather it wouldbe in their caps! That would be doing something that Dick Lewis andBob Kelly and all the best hunters in the settlement had tried in vainto accomplish. There was one of their number who was reckless enoughto believe that they could do it, and that was Archie Winters.
"Hi! hi!" he yelled, so suddenly that he startled all his companions."Look to him, dogs. Hunt him up!"
No sooner were the words spoken, than the dogs uttered a simultaneousyelp, and disappeared in the bushes. There were five of them in thepack--Marmion, and four splendid hounds, which belonged to Dick. Theiryoung masters had often declared that they should never follow OldDavy's trail, for he was a famous hand to destroy dogs, and during hisnumerous fights, he had killed nearly all the finest animals of thisspecies in the settlement. A few months before, every farmer in thatsection of the country had pointed with pride to his pack of fifteenor twenty hounds, to which he gave as much care and attention as hebestowed upon his horses; but Old Davy had thinned them all out, andnow some of the settlers had only two or three remaining. Frank andDick had, thus far, kept their favorites at a safe distance from thegrizzly, but Archie had sent them right into his mouth. When the dogscame up with him, they would of course attack him, and that would bethe last of them. A bear that could demolish twenty fierce hounds in asingle fight, would not wink over five antagonists. However, it wastoo late to recall them. They were already out of sight, and yelpingfierce and loud as they swept up the mountain in pursuit of thegrizzly.
"I've seen my hounds for the last time," said Dick.
"And I'll never put eyes on Marmion again," chimed in Frank. "Whatmade you send them on, Archie?"
"Now look here, fellows," replied the latter. "We have said a hundredtimes that we wanted to see Old Davy, and I'd like to know if we'llever have a better chance than we've got now. Let's follow the dogs,and when they bring us within sight of the bear, we'll call them off.We can look at him without having a fight with him, can't we?"
The others were by no means sure of that. Those who knew Old Davy bestsaid that he was a quarrelsome fellow, and that he never hesitated toassault anybody who invaded his dominions. A black bear, unless drivendesperate by hunger, will generally take to his heels at the sight ofa human being; but Old Davy was a grizzly, and one of the mostferocious of his species. But, although the boys were well aware ofall these facts, they did not hesitate to follow Archie, who, withoutwaiting to hear what his companions had to say to his proposition, putspurs to his horse, and dashed into the bushes. They unslung theirguns as they went (although they all declared that they had not theslightest intention of shooting at the bear if they came up with him),and, guided by the hoarse baying of the hounds in front, gallopedthrough the trees, and up the side of the mountain, like a squad ofcavalry on the charge.
The higher they went the more difficult the ascent became. The busheswere thick, fallen logs incumbered the ground, and the trees andsaplings grew so closely together that their horses could scarcelyforce their way through them. It was a splendid hiding-place for abear, and Frank could not help asking himself how many chances therewere in a hundred that all of them would succeed in making theirescape, if Old Davy should suddenly pounce down upon them.
After a tedious, fatiguing ride of half an hour, during which time themusic of the hounds continued to ring out louder and clearer, as thetrail grew warmer, they reached the top of a spur of the mountain, andwere on the point of descending into the ravine on the opposite side,when Dick Thomas, who was leading the way, suddenly uttered anexclamation, and stopped his horse.
"What is it?" asked his companions in a breath.
"We'd better be getting away from here, fellows," replied Dick, soexcited that he could scarcely speak plainly. "There's the old rascalhimself."
"Who? Where? You don't mean Old Davy!"
The boys had talked bravely enough about meeting this dreadedmonster; but now that they were close upon him, their courage began toooze out at the ends of their fingers, and the faces they turnedtoward Dick were a good deal paler than usual.
"Yes, I do mean Old Davy. Don't you see him sitting there at the footof that mammoth oak?"
The boys looked through the trees in the direction Dick pointed, and,sure enough, there was the grizzly, scarcely more than a hundred yardsdistant. There could be no mistake as to his identity, for there wasthe bald spot on his forehead as plain as daylight. They had gotthemselves into a nice scrape.
That was the first thought that passed through Frank's mind, and thenext was that he would never again have a word to say about Marmion'scourage. He had never been more astonished in his life, than he waswhen he witnessed the actions of his favorite. The hero of a score ofhard-fought battles, the dog that had been at the killing of half adozen bears, and never once hesitated to attack the largest ofthem--Marmion the infallible, upon discovering Old Davy, uttered onehowl of terror, and faced about and fled for dear life. The houndsfollowed close at his heels, and such a scrambling to get out ofharm's way Frank had never seen before. They were out of sight in aninstant.
The boys had prepared themselves to see something frightful when theycame within sight of Old Davy, and they were not disappointed. He waseven larger and uglier than their imaginations had pictured him. Hesat on his haunches at the root of a
huge oak, swinging his headslowly, from side to side, and apparently unconscious of the presenceof the young hunters.
"Well, fellows," said Frank, who was the coolest one in the party,"we've found the old villain, and now what are we going to do withhim?"
"Let's shoot at him and run," suggested Archie.
"If the ground was clear, and I had my own horse, I would agree tothat," replied Frank. "But don't you know that this mountain behind usis almost impassable? What would happen to us if we should fail tokill or disable him, and our horses should become entangled in thebushes?"
"Well, we must do something very soon," said Johnny, "for the oldfellow isn't going to sit there much longer. He is getting uneasy."
Frank raised himself in his stirrups and took a survey of the groundbefore him, like a general who was about to lead his forces intoaction. But he had no intention of provoking a fight with their enemy.His only desire was to bring himself and companions safely out of thedangerous predicament in which they had thoughtlessly placedthemselves. He was certain that when they began to retreat, thegrizzly would assume the offensive; and in a race through those thickbushes, he would have a decided advantage, and might succeed inovertaking some of them.
"There is only one thing we can do," said he, "and that is to get downto the bottom of the ravine."
"Why, we'll have to go right past Old Davy to get there," said Archie.
"We can't help that. We must reach clear ground, where we will have afair chance for our lives, if he takes it into his head to attack us.Move in single file, boys, keep close together, and if Old Davy showsfight, we'll give him a volley, and take to our heels."
"That's the way to do it," said Dick, approvingly. "You give thecommands, Frank, and then every thing will be done in order."
The boys were, by this time, recovering from the nervousness that hadbeen occasioned by the first sight of the grizzly; and, as theircourage returned, there was more than one among them who secretlydetermined that he would not leave the field, until he had had atleast one fair shot at the bear. They had swift horses under them,trusty weapons in their hands, and they knew that if Old Davy wouldkeep quiet until they were well out of the bushes into clear ground,there was nothing to be afraid of.
Frank turned his horse and rode slowly down the mountain toward thebottom of the ravine, his companions following after in single file.They carried their rifles across their saddles in front of them,cocked and ready for instant use, and each boy kept his eyes fastenedupon the grizzly. Old Davy watched them closely, too; and when he sawthem moving about among the bushes, he raised his head and uttered anangry growl. That growl had a demoralizing effect upon the younghunters, for their line of battle was broken in an instant, andFrank's horse made one or two frantic leaps down the mountain, almostunseating his rider. The general consternation was greatly increasedwhen Johnny called out that the bear was coming.
"Take it easy, boys!" shouted Frank, with difficulty restraining hisfrightened horse. "There's time enough. Wait till he comes out of thebushes, and fire at that bald spot on his forehead. Be sure of youraim, now."
It required no little nerve for the young hunters to sit there intheir saddles and await the onslaught of that enraged grizzly. Theycould not see him now, but they heard his angry growls, and saw thebushes shake and bend as he charged toward them. Presently hisenormous head and shoulders emerged from a thicket scarcely more thantwenty-five yards distant, and Frank gave the word.
"Ready! Aim! Fire!" he shouted.
Four shining rifle-barrels arose in line, four sights covered thebear's head, four fingers pressed the trigger at the same instant, aroar that awoke the echoes far and near rang through the mountains,and before the smoke cleared away, four frightened horses had dashedpast Old Davy, and were carrying their riders down the ravine with thespeed of the wind. The boys knew that their hands trembled, but theywere all good marksmen, and they were sure that at least one of thefour bullets that had been fired at the grizzly's head, had found alodgment in some vital part; but what was their amazement, when theyreached the bottom of the ravine, and turned in their saddles andlooked back, to see Old Davy still on his feet, and coming down themountain in hot pursuit, he did not appear to have been in the leastinjured by the storm of bullets they had rained upon him.