The Grizzly would have dropped the matter right there. He did not wishto fight. He had no idea of troubling himself about Johnny. All hewanted was a quiet meal. But no! The moment he took one step toward thegarbage-pile, that is, as Grumpy thought, toward Johnny, she went at himagain. But this time the Grizzly was ready for her. With one blow heknocked her off her feet and sent her crashing on to a huge upturnedpine-root. She was fairly staggered this time. The force of the blow,and the rude reception of the rooty antlers, seemed to take all thefight out of her. She scrambled over and tried to escape. But theGrizzly was mad now. He meant to punish her, and dashed around the root.For a minute they kept up a dodging chase about it; but Grumpy wasquicker of foot, and somehow always managed to keep the root betweenherself and her foe, while Johnny, safe in the tree, continued to takean intense and uproarious interest.
{Illustration} At length, seeing he could not catch her that way, theGrizzly sat up on his haunches; and while he doubtless was planning anew move, old Grumpy saw her chance, and making a dash, got away fromthe root and up to the top of the tree where Johnny was perched.
{Illustration}
Johnny came down a little way to meet her, or perhaps so that the treemight not break off with the additional weight. Having photographed thisinteresting group from my hiding-place, I thought I must get a closerpicture at any price, and for the first time in the day's proceedings Ijumped out of the hole and ran under the tree. This move proved a greatmistake, for here the thick lower boughs came between, and I could seenothing at all of the Bears at the top.
I was close to the trunk, and was peering about and seeking for a chanceto use the camera, when old Grumpy began to come down, chopping herteeth and uttering her threatening cough at me. While I stood in doubt Iheard a voice far behind me calling: "Say, Mister! You better look out;that ole B'ar is liable to hurt you."
I turned to see the cow-boy of the Hotel on his Horse. He had beenriding after the cattle, and chanced to pass near just as events weremoving quickly.
"Do you know these Bears?" said I, as he rode up.
"Wall, I reckon I do," said he. "That there little one up top is Johnny;he's a little crank. An' the big un is Grumpy; she's a big crank. She'smighty onreliable gen'relly, but she's always strictly ugly when Johnnyhollers like that."
"I should much like to get her picture when she comes down," said I.
"Tell ye what I'll do: I'll stay by on the pony, an' if she goes tobother you I reckon I can keep her off," said the man.
{Illustration}
He accordingly stood by as Grumpy slowly came down from branch tobranch, growling and threatening. But when she neared the ground shekept on the far side of the trunk, and finally slipped down and ran intothe woods, without the slightest pretence of carrying out any of herdreadful threats. Thus Johnny was again left alone. He climbed up to hisold perch and resumed his monotonous whining: _Wah! Wah! Wal!_! ("Oh,dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear!")
I got the camera ready, and was arranging deliberately to take hispicture in his favourite and peculiar attitude for threnodic song, whenall at once he began craning his neck and yelling, as he had done duringthe fight.
I looked where his nose pointed, and here was the Grizzly coming onstraight toward me--not charging, but striding along, as though he meantto come the whole distance.
I said to my cow-boy friend: "Do you know this Bear?"
He replied: "Wall! I reckon I do. That's the ole Grizzly. He's thebiggest B'ar in the Park. He gen'relly minds his own business, but heain't scared o' nothin'; an' to-day, ye see, he's been scrappin', sohe's liable to be ugly."
{Illustration}
"I would like to take his picture," said I; "and if you will help me, Iam willing to take some chances on it."
"All right," said he, with a grin. "I'll stand by on the Horse, an' ifhe charges you I'll charge him; an' I kin knock him down once, but Ican't do it twice. You better have your tree picked out."
As there was only one tree to pick out, and that was the one that Johnnywas in, the prospect was not alluring. I imagined myself scrambling upthere next to Johnny, and then Johnny's mother coming up after me, withthe Grizzly below to catch me when Grumpy should throw me down.
{Illustration}
The Grizzly came on, and I snapped him at forty yards, then again attwenty yards; and still he came quietly toward me. I sat down onthe garbage and made ready. Eighteen yards--sixteen yards--twelveyards--eight yards, and still he came, while the pitch of Johnny'sprotests kept rising proportionately. Finally at five yards he stopped,and swung his huge bearded head to one side, to see what was making thataggravating row in the tree-top, giving me a profile view, and I snappedthe camera. At the click he turned on me with a thunderous
G--R--O--W--L!
and I sat still and trembling, wondering if my last moment had come. Fora second he glared at me and I could note the little green electriclamp in each of his eyes. Then he slowly turned and picked up--a largetomato-can.
"Goodness!" I thought, "is he going to throw that at me?" But hedeliberately licked it out, dropped it, and took another, payingthenceforth no heed whatever either to me or to Johnny, evidentlyconsidering us equally beneath his notice.
I backed slowly and respectfully out of his royal presence, leaving himin possession of the garbage, while Johnny kept on caterwauling from hissafety-perch.
What became of Grumpy the rest of that day I do not know. Johnny, afterbewailing for a time, realized that there was no sympathetic hearer ofhis cries, and therefore very sagaciously stopped them. Having no mothernow to plan for him, he began to plan for himself, and at once provedthat he was better stuff than he seemed. After watching with a look ofprofound cunning on his little black face, and waiting till the Grizzlywas some distance away, he silently slipped down behind the trunk, and,despite his three-leggedness, ran like a hare to the next tree, neverstopping to breathe till he was on its topmost bough. For he wasthoroughly convinced that the only object that the Grizzly had in lifewas to kill him, and he seemed quite aware that his enemy could notclimb a tree.
Another long and safe survey of the Grizzly, who really paid no heed tohim whatever, was followed by another dash for the next tree, variedoccasionally by a cunning feint to mislead the foe. So he went dashingfrom tree to tree and climbing each to its very top,--although it mightbe but ten feet from the last, till he disappeared in the woods. After,perhaps, ten minutes, his voice again came floating on the breeze, thehabitual querulous whining which told me he had found his mother and hadresumed his customary appeal to her sympathy.
{Illustration}
V.
It is quite a common thing for Bears to spank their cubs when they needit, and if Grumpy had disciplined Johnny this way, it would have savedthem both a deal of worry. Perhaps not a day passed, that summer,without Grumpy getting into trouble on Johnny's account. But of allthese numerous occasions the most ignominious was shortly after theaffair with the Grizzly.
I first heard the story from three bronzed mountaineers. As they werevery sensitive about having their word doubted, and very good shotswith the revolver, I believed every word they told me, especially whenafterward fully endorsed by the Park authorities.
It seemed that of all the tinned goods on the pile the nearest toJohnny's taste were marked with a large purple plum. This conclusion hehad arrived at only after most exhaustive study. The very odour of thoseplums in Johnny's nostrils was the equivalent of ecstasy. So when itcame about one day that the cook of the Hotel baked a huge batch ofplum-tarts, the tell-tale wind took the story afar into the woods, whereit was wafted by way of Johnny's nostrils to his very soul.
{Illustration}
Of course Johnny was whimpering at the time. His mother was busy"washing his face and combing his hair," so he had double cause forwhimpering. But the smell of the tarts thrilled him; he jumped up, andwhen his mother tried to hold him he squalled, and I am afraid--hebit her. She should have cuffed him, but she did not. She only gave adisapproving growl,
and followed to see that he came to no harm.
{Illustration}
With his little black nose in the wind, Johnny led straight for thekitchen. He took the precaution, however, of climbing from time to timeto the very top of a pine-tree look-out to take an observation, whileGrumpy stayed below.
Thus they came close to the kitchen, and there, in the last tree,Johnny's courage as a leader gave out, so he remained aloft andexpressed his hankering for tarts in a woebegone wail.
It is not likely that Grumpy knew exactly what her son was crying for.But it is sure that as soon as she showed an inclination to go back intothe pines, Johnny protested in such an outrageous and heart-rendingscreeching that his mother simply could not leave him, and he showed nosign of coming down to be led away.
Grumpy herself was fond of plum-jam. The odour was now, of course, verystrong and proportionately alluring; so Grumpy followed it somewhatcautiously up to the kitchen door.
There was nothing surprising about this. The rule of "live and let live"is so strictly enforced in the Park that the Bears often come to thekitchen door for pickings, and on getting something, they go quietlyback to the woods. Doubtless Johnny and Grumpy would each have gottentheir tart but that a new factor appeared in the case.
{Illustration}
That week the Hotel people had brought a new cat from the East. She wasnot much more than a kitten, but still had a litter of her own, and atthe moment that Grumpy reached the door, the Cat and her family weresunning themselves on the top step. Pussy opened her eyes to see thishuge, shaggy monster towering above her.
The Cat had never before seen a Bear--she had not been there longenough; she did not know even what a Bear was. She knew what a Dog was,and here was a bigger, more awful bob-tailed black dog than ever she haddreamed of coming right at her. Her first thought was to fly for herlife. But her next was for the kittens. She must take care of them. Shemust at least cover their retreat. So like a brave little mother, shebraced herself on that door-step, and spreading her back, her claws, hertail, and everything she had to spread, she screamed out at that Bear anunmistakable order to
STOP!
{Illustration}
The language must have been "Cat," but the meaning was clear to theBear; for those who saw it maintain stoutly that Grumpy not onlystopped, but she also conformed to the custom of the country and intoken of surrender held up her hands.
However, the position she thus took made her so high that the Cat seemedtiny in the distance below. Old Grumpy had faced a Grizzly once, and wasshe now to be held up by a miserable little spike-tailed skunk no biggerthan a mouthful? She was ashamed of herself, especially when a wail fromJohnny smote on her ear and reminded her of her plain duty, as well assupplied his usual moral support.
So she dropped down on her front feet to proceed.
Again the Cat shrieked, "STOP!" But Grumpy ignored the command. A scaredmew from a kitten nerved the Cat, and she launched her ultimatum, whichultimatum was herself. Eighteen sharp claws, a mouthful of keen teeth,had Pussy, and she worked them all with a desperate will when she landedon Grumpy's bare, bald, sensitive nose, just the spot of all where theBear cold not stand it, and then worked backward to a point outside thesweep of Grumpy's claws. After one or two vain attempts to shake thespotted fury off, old Grumpy did just as most creatures would have doneunder the circumstances: she turned tail and bolted out of the enemy'scountry into her own woods.
But Puss's fighting blood was up. She was not content with repelling theenemy; she wanted to inflict a crushing defeat, to achieve an absoluteand final rout. And however fast old Grumpy might go, it did not count,for the Cat was still on top, working her teeth and claws like a littledemon. Grumpy, always erratic, now became panic-stricken. The trail ofthe pair was flecked with tufts of long black hair, and there was evenbloodshed (in the fiftieth degree). Honour surely was satisfied, butPussy was not. Round and round they had gone in the mad race. Grumpy wasfrantic, absolutely humiliated, and ready to make any terms; but Pussyseemed deaf to her cough-like yelps, and no one knows how far the Catmight have ridden that day had not Johnny unwittingly put a new ideainto his mother's head by bawling in his best style from the top of hislast tree, which tree Grumpy made for and scrambled up.
{Illustration}
This was so clearly the enemy's country and in view of hisreinforcements that the Cat wisely decided to follow no farther.She jumped from the climbing Bear to the ground, and then mountedsentry-guard below, marching around with tail in the air, daring thatBear to come down. Then the kittens came out and sat around, and enjoyedit all hugely. And the mountaineers assured me that the Bears would havebeen kept up the tree till they were starved, had not the cook of theHotel come out and called off his Cat--although this statement was notamong those vouched for by the officers of the Park.
VI.
The last time I saw Johnny he was in the top of a tree, bewailing hisunhappy lot as usual, while his mother was dashing about among thepines, "with a chip on her shoulder," seeking for someone--anyone--thatshe could punish for Johnny's sake, provided, of course, that it was nota big Grizzly or a Mother Cat.
This was early in August, but there were not lacking symptoms of changein old Grumpy. She was always reckoned "onsartin," and her devotion toJohnny seemed subject to her characteristic. This perhaps accounted forthe fact that when the end of the month was near, Johnny would sometimesspend half a day in the top of some tree, alone, miserable, and utterlyunheeded.
The last chapter of his history came to pass after I had left theregion. One day at grey dawn he was tagging along behind his motheras she prowled in the rear of the Hotel. A newly hired Irish girl wasalready astir in the kitchen. On looking out, she saw, as she thought, aCalf where it should not be, and ran to shoo it away. That open kitchendoor still held unmeasured terrors for Grumpy, and she ran in such alarmthat Johnny caught the infection, and not being able to keep up withher, he made for the nearest tree, which unfortunately turned out to bea post, and soon--too soon--he arrived at its top, some seven feet fromthe ground, and there poured forth his woes on the chilly morning air,while Grumpy apparently felt justified in continuing her flight alone.When the girl came near and saw that she had treed some wild animal, shewas as much frightened as her victim. But others of the kitchen staffappeared, and recognizing the vociferous Johnny, they decided to makehim a prisoner.
{Illustration}
A collar and chain were brought, and after a struggle, during whichseveral of the men got well scratched, the collar was buckled onJohnny's neck and the chain made fast to the post.
When he found that he was held, Johnny was simply too mad to scream. Hebit and scratched and tore till he was tired out. Then he lifted up hisvoice again to call his mother. She did appear once or twice inthe distance, but could not make up her mind to face that Cat, sodisappeared, and Johnny was left to his fate.
{Illustration}
He put in the most of that day in alternate struggling and crying.Toward evening he was worn out, and glad to accept the meal that wasbrought by Norah, who felt herself called on to play mother, since shehad chased his own mother away.
When night came it was very cold; but Johnny nearly froze at the top ofthe post before he would come down and accept the warm bed provided atthe bottom.
During the days that followed, Grumpy came often to the garbage-heap,but soon apparently succeeded in forgetting all about her son. He wasdaily tended by Norah, and received all his meals from her. He alsoreceived something else; for one day he scratched her when she broughthis food, and she very properly spanked him till he squealed. For a fewhours he sulked; he was not used to such treatment. But hunger subduedhim, and thenceforth he held his new guardian in wholesome respect. She,too, began to take an interest in the poor motherless little wretch, andwithin a fortnight Johnny showed signs of developing a new character. Hewas much less noisy. He still expressed his hunger in a whining _Er-r-rEr-r-r Er-r-r,_ but he rarely squealed now, and his unruly outburstsentirely ceased.
{Illustration}
By the third week of September the change was still more marked. Utterlyabandoned by his own mother, all his interest had centred in Norah, andshe had fed and spanked him into an exceedingly well-behaved littleBear. Sometimes she would allow him a taste of freedom, and he thenshowed his bias by making, not for the woods, but for the kitchen whereshe was, and following her around on his hind legs. Here also he madethe acquaintance of that dreadful Cat; but Johnny had a powerfulfriend now, and Pussy finally became reconciled to the black, woollyinterloper.
As the Hotel was to be closed in October, there was talk of turningJohnny loose or of sending him to the Washington Zoo; but Norah hadclaims that she would not forgo.
When the frosty nights of late September came, Johnny had greatlyimproved in his manners, but he had also developed a bad cough. Anexamination of his lame leg had shown that the weakness was not in thefoot, but much more deeply seated, perhaps in the hip, and that meant afeeble and tottering constitution.
He did not get fat, as do most Bears in fall; indeed, he continued tofail. His little round belly shrank in, his cough became worse, and onemorning he was found very sick and shivering in his bed by the post.Norah brought him indoors, where the warmth helped him so much thathenceforth he lived in the kitchen.
For a few days he seemed better, and his old-time pleasure in _seeingthings_ revived. The great blazing fire in the range particularlyappealed to him, and made him sit up in his old attitude when theopening of the door brought the wonder to view. After a week he lostinterest even in that, and drooped more and more each day. Finally notthe most exciting noises or scenes around him could stir up his oldfondness for seeing what was going on.