CHAPTER TWELVE.
VICTORY!
But before that winter closed, ay, before it began, a great victory wasgained, which merits special mention here. Let us retrace our steps alittle.
One morning, while Ian Macdonald was superintending the preparation ofbreakfast in some far-away part of the western wilderness, and MichelRollin was cutting firewood, Victor Ravenshaw came rushing into campwith the eager announcement that he had seen the footprints of an_enormous_ grizzly bear!
At any time such news would have stirred the blood of Ian, but at thattime, when the autumn was nearly over, and hope had almost died in thebreast of our scholastic backwoodsman, the news burst upon him with thethrilling force of an electric shock.
"Now, Ian, take your gun and go in and win," said Victor withenthusiasm, for the youth had been infected with Rollin's spirit ofgallantry.
"You see," Rollin had said to Victor during a confidential_tete-a-tete_, "ven a lady is in de case ye must bow de head. Ian dolove your sister. Ver goot. Your sister do vish for a bar-claw collar.Ver goot. Vell, de chance turn up at last--von grizzly bar do appear.Who do shot 'im? Vy, Ian, certaintly. Mais, it is pity he am so'bominibly bad shot!"
Victor, being an unselfish fellow, at once agreed to this; hence hisearnest advice that Ian should take his gun and go in and win. But Ianshook his head.
"My dear boy," he said, with a sigh, "it's of no use my attempting toshoot a bear, or anything else. I don't know what can be wrong with myvision, I can see as clear and as far as the best of you, and I'm notbad, you'll allow, at following up a trail over hard ground; but when itcomes to squinting along the barrel of a gun I'm worse than useless.It's my belief that if I took aim at a haystack at thirty yards I'd missit. No, Vic, I must give up the idea of shooting altogether."
"What! have you forgotten the saying, `Faint heart never won fairlady?'" exclaimed Victor, in surprise.
"Nay, lad, my memory is not so short as that, neither is my heart asfaint as you seem to think it. I do intend to go in and win, but Ishall do it after a fashion of my own, Vic."
Rollin, who came up at the moment and flung a bundle of sticks on thefire, demanded to know what "vas the vashion" referred to.
"That I won't tell you at present, boys," said Ian; "but, if you haveany regard for me, you'll make me a solemn promise not in any way tointerfere with me or my plans unless you see me in actual and imminentdanger of losing my life."
"Jus' so," said Rollin, with a nod, "ye vill not step in to de reskootill you is at de very last gasp."
Having obtained the requisite promise, Ian set off with his comrades toexamine the bear's track. There could be but one opinion as to the sizeof the grizzly which had made it. As Victor had said, it was enormous,and showed that the animal had wandered about hither and thither, as ifit had been of an undecided temperament. Moreover the track was quitefresh.
Of course there was much eager conversation about it among the friends;carried on in subdued tones and whispers, as if they feared that thebear might be listening in a neighbouring bush. After discussing thesubject in every point of view, and examining the tracks in every light,they returned to the camp, at Victor's suggestion, to talk it over morefully, and make preparations for the hunt. Ian, however, cut shorttheir deliberations by reminding his comrades of their promise, andclaiming the strict fulfilment of it.
"If this thing is to be undertaken by me," he said, "I must have it allmy own way and do the thing entirely by myself."
"Nobody objects to your having it all your own way," retorted Victor,somewhat testily, "but why should you be so secret about it? Why notgive a fellow some sort of idea what your plan is, so that, if we can'thave the pleasure of helping you, we may at least enjoy the comfort ofthinking about it?"
"No, Vic, no. I won't give you a hint, because my plan is entirely new,and you would laugh at it; at least it is new to me, for I never heardof its having been attempted with grizzlies before, though I have heardof it in connection with other bears. Besides, I may fail, in whichcase the less that is known about my failure the better. Only this muchwill I say, the idea has been suggested to me by the formation of theland hereabouts. You know there is a gap or pass in the rocks justahead of us, through which the bear seems to have passed more than oncein the course of his rambles. Well, that gap is the spot where I willmake my attempt. If you follow me to that gap I will at once return tocamp and let you manage the matter yourselves."
"Well, well, do as you please," said Victor, with a laugh, "and thesooner you set about it the better. Rollin and I will ride away somemiles in the opposite direction and see if we can't get hold of a wildgoose for supper."
"Ha! perhaps de grizzly vill get hold of anoder and a vilder goose forsupper," said Rollin, with a shake of his head.
When his companions had departed, Ian Macdonald cleaned his guncarefully and loaded with ball; then placing his axe in his belt besidehis scalping-knife, he proceeded with long and rapid strides towards thegap or pass above referred to. The bear's track led through this pass,which was a narrow cut, not more than thirty feet wide, in a steep rockyridge with which the country at that place was intersected for aconsiderable distance. The ridge itself, and the pass by which it wasdivided, were thickly covered with trees and dense undergrowth.
The floor of the pass was level, although rugged, and the rocks oneither side rose in a sheer precipice, so that whoever should attempt topenetrate without wings to the region beyond must needs go by thatnarrow cut.
Arrived at the middle of the pass, where it was narrowest, Ian leant hisgun against the precipice on one side, took off his coat, tucked up hissleeves, grasped his axe, and attacked a mighty tree. Like Ulysses ofold, he swung the axe with trenchant power and skill. Huge chips flewcircling round. Ere long a goodly tree creaked, groaned, and finallyfell with a crash upon the ground. It was tough work. Ian heaved asigh of satisfaction and wiped his streaming brow as he surveyed thefallen monarch. There was another king of the same size near to theopposite precipice, which he felled in the same way. Both monarchsmingled and severely injured their royal heads in the middle of thepass, which thus became entirely blocked up, for our woodsman had somanaged that the trees fell right across it.
Next, Ian attacked the united heads, and with great labour hewed apassage through them, near to a spot where a large boulder lay.Selecting another forest king, Ian cut it so that one end of it fell onthe boulder. The result of all this hewing and guiding of the fallingmonarchs was that the only available track through the pass was a holeabout four feet in diameter, with a tree of great weight suspended aboveit by the boulder.
To chop off the branches and convert this latter tree into a log did nottake long. Neither did it take much time or exertion to fashion a sortof support, or trigger, in the shape of a figure 4, immediately underthe log, so as to obstruct the hole before mentioned. But to lower thelog gently from the boulder on to this trigger without setting it offwas a matter of extreme difficulty, requiring great care and much time,for the weight of the log was great, and if it should once slip to theground, ten Ian Macdonalds could not have raised it up again. It wasaccomplished at last, however, and several additional heavy logs wereleaned upon the main one to increase its weight.
"If he returns this way at all, he will come in the evening," mutteredIan to himself, as he sat down on a stump and surveyed his handiworkwith a smile of satisfaction. "But perhaps he may not come back tillmorning, in which case I shall have to watch here all night, and thoseimpatient geese in the camp will be sure to disturb us on the plea thatthey feared I had been killed--bah! and perhaps he won't come at all!"
This last idea was not muttered; it was only thought, but the thoughtbanished the smile of satisfaction from Ian's face. In a meditativemood he took up his gun, refreshed the priming and slightly chipped theflint, so as to sharpen its edge and make sure of its striking fire.
By that time it was long past noon, and the hunter was meditating thepropri
ety of going to a neighbouring height to view the surroundingcountry, when a slight noise attracted his attention. He started,cocked his gun, glared round in all directions, and held his breath.
The noise was not repeated. Gradually the frown of his brows melted,the glare of his eyes abated, the tension of his muscles was relaxed,and his highly-wrought feelings escaped in a long-drawn sigh.
"Pshaw 'twas nothing. No bear in its senses would roam about at such anhour, considering the row I have been kicking up with hacking andcrashing. Come, I'll go to the top of that crag, and have a lookround."
He put on his coat and belt, stuck his axe and knife into the latter,shouldered his gun, and went nimbly up the rocky ascent on his left.
Coming out on a clear spot at the crag which had attracted him, he couldsee the whole pass beneath him, except the spot where his trap had beenlaid. That portion was vexatiously hidden by an intervening clump ofbushes. Next moment he was petrified, so to speak, by the sight of agrizzly bear sauntering slowly down the pass as if in the enjoyment ofan afternoon stroll.
No power on earth--except, perhaps, a glance from Elsie--could haveunpetrified Ian Macdonald at that moment. He stood in thehalf-crouching attitude of one about to spring over the cliff--absolutely motionless--with eyes, mouth, and nostrils wide open, as ifto afford free egress to his spirit.
Not until the bear had passed slowly out of sight behind the interveningbushes was he disenchanted. Then, indeed, he leaped up like a startleddeer, turned sharp round, and bounded back the way he had come, with asmuch caution and as little noise as was compatible with such vigorousaction.
Before he had retraced his steps ten yards, however, he heard a crash!Well did he know what had caused it. His heart got into his threatsomehow. Swallowing it with much difficulty, he ran on, but a roar suchas was never uttered by human lungs almost stopped his circulation. Afew seconds brought Ian within view of his trap, and what a sightpresented itself!
A grizzly bear, which seemed to him the hugest, as it certainly was atthat moment the fiercest, that ever roamed the Rocky Mountains, wasstruggling furiously under the weight of the ponderous tree, with itssuperincumbent load of logs. The monster had been caught by the smallof the back--if such a back can be said to have possessed a small of anykind--and its rage, mingled as it must have been with surprise, wasawful to witness.
The whole framework of the ponderous trap trembled and shook under theinfluence of the animal's writhings. Heavy though it was, the bearshook it so powerfully at each spasm of rage, that it was plainly tooweak to hold him long. In the event of his breaking out, death to thetrapper was inevitable.
Ian did not hesitate an instant. His chief fear at the moment was thathis comrades at the camp might have heard the roaring--distant thoughthey were from the spot--and might arrive in time to spoil, by sharing,his victory.
Victory? Another struggle such as that, and victory would have restedwith the bear! Ian resolved to make sure work. He would put missingout of the question. The tremendous claws that had already worked asmall pit in the earth reminded him of the collar and of Elsie. Leapingforward, he thrust the point of his gun into the ear of the infuriatedanimal and pulled the trigger. He was almost stunned by the report androar, together with an unwonted shock that sent him reeling backward.
We know not how a good twist-barrelled gun would behave if its muzzlewere thus stopped, but the common Indian gun used on this occasion wasnot meant to be thus treated. It was blown to pieces, and Ian stoodgazing in speechless surprise at the fragment of wood remaining in hishand. How far it had injured the bear he could not tell, but the shothad not apparently abated its power one jot, for it still heaved upwardsin a paroxysm of rage, and with such force as nearly to overthrow thecomplex erection that held it down. Evidently there was no time tolose.
Ian drew his axe, grasped it with both hands, raised himself on tiptoe,and brought it down with all his might on the bear's neck.
The grizzly bear is noted for tenacity of life. Ian had not hit theneck-bone. Instead of succumbing to the tremendous blow, it gave thehandle of the axe a vicious twist with its paw, which jerked the hunterviolently to the ground. Before he could recover himself, the clawswhich he coveted so much were deep in his right thigh. His presence ofmind did not forsake him even then. Drawing his scalping-knife, hewrenched himself round, and twice buried the keen weapon to the haft inthe bear's side.
Just then an unwonted swimming sensation came over Ian; his greatstrength seemed suddenly to dissipate, and the bear, the claw collar,even Elsie, faded utterly from his mind.
The stars were shining brightly in the calm sky, and twinkling withpleasant tranquillity down upon his upturned countenance whenconsciousness returned to Ian Macdonald.
"Ah, Vic!" he murmured, with a long sad sigh; "I've had such a splendiddream!"
"Come, that's right, old boy. Here, have another mouthful," saidVictor, holding a tin can to his friend's lips. "It's only tea, hot andstrong--the best thing in the world to refresh a wounded man; and aftersuch a fight--"
"What!" exclaimed Ian, starting and sitting bolt upright, while he gazedin the faces of his two comrades. "Is it true? _Have_ I killed the--the--grizzly?"
"Killed him!" exclaimed Victor, rising; "I should think you have."
"Killed 'im!" echoed Rollin. "You's killed 'im two or tree time over;vy, you's axed 'im, stabbed 'im, shotted 'im, busted 'im, squashed 'im--ho!--"
"Am I much damaged?" inquired Ian, interrupting, for he felt weak.
"Oh! no--noting whatsocomever. Only few leetil holes in you's legs. Bebedder in a veek."
"Look here," said Victor, kneeling beside the wounded man and presentingto him a piece of wood on which were neatly arranged a row of formidableclaws. "I knew you would like to see them."
"How good of you, Vic! It was thoughtful of you, and kind. Put themdown before me--a little nearer--there,--so."
Ian gazed in speechless admiration. It was not that he was vain of theachievement; he was too sensible and unselfish for that; but it was_such_ a pleasure to think of being able, after all, and in spite of hisbad shooting, to present Elsie with a set of claws that were greatlysuperior to those given to her mother by Louis Lambert--the finest, inshort, that he had ever seen.