CHAPTER XXII.
_Charlie's adventures with savages and bears_--_Trapping life_.
It is one thing to chase a horse; it is another thing to catch it.Little consideration and less sagacity are required to convince us ofthe truth of that fact.
The reader may perhaps venture to think this rather a trifling fact.We are not so sure of that. In this world of fancies, to have _any_fact incontestably proved and established is a comfort, and whateveris a source of comfort to mankind is worthy of notice. Surely ourreader won't deny that! Perhaps he will, so we can only consoleourself with the remark that there are people in this world who woulddeny _anything_--who would deny that there was a nose on their face ifyou said there was!
Well, to return to the point, which was the chase of a horse in theabstract; from which we will rapidly diverge to the chase of DickVarley's horse in particular. This noble charger, having been riddenby savages until all his old fire and blood and mettle were worked upto a red heat, no sooner discovered that he was pursued than he gavea snort of defiance, which he accompanied with a frantic shake of hismane and a fling of contempt in addition to a magnificent wave of histail. Then he thundered up the valley at a pace which would speedilyhave left Joe Blunt and Henri out of sight behind if--ay! that's theword, _if_! What a word that _if_ is! what a world of _if's_ we livein! There never was anything that wouldn't have been something else_if_ something hadn't intervened to prevent it! Yes, we repeat Charliewould have left his two friends miles and miles behind in what iscalled "no time," _if_ he had not run straight into a gorge which wassurrounded by inaccessible precipices, and out of which there was noexit except by the entrance, which was immediately barred by Henri,while Joe advanced to catch the run-away.
For two hours at least did Joe Blunt essay to catch Charlie, andduring that space of time he utterly failed The horse seemed to havemade up his mind for what is vulgarly termed "a lark."
"It won't do, Henri," said Joe, advancing towards his companion, andwiping his forehead with the cuff of his leathern coat; "I can't catchhim. The wind's a'most blowed out o' me body."
"Dat am vexatiable," replied Henri, in a tone of commiseration."S'pose I wos make try?"
"In that case I s'pose ye would fail. But go ahead, an' do what yecan. I'll hold yer horse."
So Henri began by a rush and a flourish of legs and arms that nearlyfrightened the horse out of his wits. For half-an-hour he went throughall the complications of running and twisting of which he was capable,without success, when Joe Blunt suddenly uttered a stentorian yellthat rooted him to the spot on which he stood.
To account for this, we must explain that in the heights of the RockyMountains vast accumulations of snow take place among the crevices andgorges during winter. Such of these masses as form on steep slopesare loosened by occasional thaws, and are precipitated in the form ofavalanches into the valleys below, carrying trees and stones alongwith them in their thundering descent. In the gloomy gorge whereDick's horse had taken refuge the precipices were so steep that manyavalanches had occurred, as was evident from the mounds of heaped snowthat lay at the foot of most of them. Neither stones nor trees werecarried down here, however, for the cliffs were nearly perpendicular,and the snow slipping over their edges had fallen on the grass below.Such an avalanche was now about to take place, and it was this thatcaused Joe to utter his cry of alarm and warning.
Henri and the horse were directly under the cliff over which it wasabout to be hurled, the latter close to the wall of rock, the other atsome distance away from it.
Joe cried again, "Back, Henri! back _vite_!" when the mass _flowedover_ and fell with a roar like prolonged thunder. Henri sprang backin time to save his life, though he was knocked down and almoststunned; but poor Charlie was completely buried under the avalanche,which now presented the appearance of a _hill_ of snow.
The instant Henri recovered sufficiently, Joe and he mounted theirhorses and galloped back to the camp as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, another spectator stepped forward upon the scene they hadleft, and surveyed the snow hill with a critical eye. This was no lessthan a grizzly bear, which had, unobserved, been a spectator, andwhich immediately proceeded to dig into the mound, with the purpose,no doubt, of disentombing the carcass of the horse for purposes of hisown.
While he was thus actively engaged the two hunters reached the camp,where they found that Pierre and his party had just arrived. The mensent out in search of them had scarcely advanced a mile when theyfound them trudging back to the camp in a very disconsolate manner.But all their sorrows were put to flight on hearing of the curious wayin which the horses had been returned to them with interest.
Scarcely had Dick Varley, however, congratulated himself on therecovery of his gallant steed, when he was thrown into despair by thesudden arrival of Joe with the tidings of the catastrophe we have justrelated.
Of course there was a general rush to the rescue. Only a few men wereordered to remain to guard the camp, while the remainder mounted theirhorses and galloped towards the gorge where Charlie had been entombed.On arriving, they found that Bruin had worked with such laudable zealthat nothing but the tip of his tail was seen sticking out of the holewhich he had dug. The hunters could not refrain from laughing as theysprang to the ground, and standing in a semicircle in front of thehole, prepared to fire. But Crusoe resolved to have the honour ofleading the assault. He seized fast hold of Bruin's flank, and causedhis teeth to meet therein. Caleb backed out at once and turned round,but before he could recover from his surprise a dozen bullets piercedhis heart and brain.
"Now, lads," cried Cameron, setting to work with a large woodenshovel, "work like niggers. If there's any life left in the horse,it'll soon be smothered out unless we set him free."
The men needed no urging, however. They worked as if their livesdepended on their exertions. Dick Varley, in particular, laboured likea young Hercules, and Henri hurled masses of snow about in a mostsurprising manner. Crusoe, too, entered heartily into the spirit ofthe work, and, scraping with his forepaws, sent such a continuousshower of snow behind him that he was speedily lost to view in a holeof his own excavating. In the course of half-an-hour a cavern was dugin the mound almost close up to the cliff, and the men were beginningto look about for the crushed body of Dick's steed, when anexclamation from Henri attracted their attention.
"Ha! mes ami, here am be one hole."
The truth of this could not be doubted, for the eccentric trapper hadthrust his shovel through the wall of snow into what appeared to be acavern beyond, and immediately followed up his remark by thrusting inhis head and shoulders. He drew them out in a few seconds, with a lookof intense amazement.
"Voila! Joe Blunt. Look in dere, and you shall see fat you villbehold."
"Why, it's the horse, I do b'lieve!" cried Joe. "Go ahead, lads!"
So saying, he resumed his shovelling vigorously, and in a few minutesthe hole was opened up sufficiently to enable a man to enter. Dicksprang in, and there stood Charlie close beside the cliff, lookingas sedate and, unconcerned as if all that had been going on had noreference to him whatever.
The cause of his safety was simple enough. The precipice beside whichhe stood when the avalanche occurred overhung its base at that pointconsiderably, so that when the snow descended a clear space of severalfeet wide was left all along its base. Here Charlie had remained inperfect comfort until his friends dug him out.
Congratulating themselves not a little on having saved the charger andbagged a grizzly bear, the trappers remounted, and returned to thecamp.
For some time after this nothing worthy of particular note occurred.The trapping operations went on prosperously and without interruptionfrom the Indians, who seemed to have left the locality altogether.During this period, Dick, and Crusoe, and Charlie had many excursionstogether, and the silver rifle full many a time sent death to theheart of bear, and elk, and buffalo; while, indirectly, it sent joyto the heart of man, woman, and child in camp, in the shape of juicyst
eaks and marrow-bones. Joe and Henri devoted themselves almostexclusively to trapping beaver, in which pursuit they were sosuccessful that they speedily became wealthy men, according tobackwood notions of wealth.
With the beaver that they caught they purchased from Cameron's storepowder and shot enough for a long hunting expedition, and a coupleof spare horses to carry their packs. They also purchased a largeassortment of such goods and trinkets as would prove acceptable toIndians, and supplied themselves with new blankets, and a few pairs ofstrong moccasins, of which they stood much in need.
Thus they went on from day to day, until symptoms of the approach ofwinter warned them that it was time to return to the Mustang Valley.About this time an event occurred which totally changed the aspectof affairs in these remote valleys of the Rocky Mountains, andprecipitated the departure of our four friends, Dick, Joe, Henri, andCrusoe. This was the sudden arrival of a whole tribe of Indians.As their advent was somewhat remarkable, we shall devote to it thecommencement of a new chapter.