THE COMANCHE BEAR.
The declaration of Sebastian Carsfield that the object seen by him
and Crockett across the creek, instead of being a bear, was an Indian
gotten up in that shape, let in a flood of light upon both.
"I wouldn't shoot!" added the Texan; "let us go back, where he can't
hit us, and we will watch it."
They carefully withdrew a few paces, and lying down flat upon the rock,
peered over at the suspicious object.
They discovered little or nothing more. The dark huge figure of the
animal was seen for a few minutes, groping around in the undergrowth,
when it took itself off and did not come back.
"That's the bear I see'd on the clearin'," remarked Crockett; "and that
Katrina wouldn't let me shoot."
"Yes; it would have been a good thing if you could have put a ball
through it. I think it has been by some such means that Hans Bungslager
has been led on into the woods to his own destruction."
The night was so clear and still that the two men, almost
unconsciously, fell asleep, as they lay stretched out upon the rock.
The hours passed on, and when it began to grow light, Katrina awoke
and advanced to the front of the cavern, and paused beside the two men
stretched out there.
Both were sleeping soundly, and she looked at them for a few minutes
with feelings of commiseration.
"They are tired out and wearied," she murmured; "they will need sleep,
and I will let them be until I return."
Very carefully she came down from among the rocks, and advancing to
the edge of the creek bathed herself in it. The water was so cool and
refreshing that she plashed her hands it for several minutes.
No thought of danger entered her head, as she believed the place so
secluded that there was scarcely a possibility of their being disturbed
by the foes they dreaded so much. Had she known what her friends had
seen during the previous night, she would have been more careful in her
movements.
She was about a hundred yards from where the men were sleeping, and
sat down on the mossy bank of the stream for a few minutes to enjoy a
slight breeze that was fanning her face and that made music among the
rustling leaves.
The sky was clear, and the sunlight penetrated the woods with its
revivifying influence; but for the disappearance of her uncle she would
have been in the best of spirits. The cabin had been swept away, but
she and the two men had escaped with their lives, and to her, it seemed
that scarcely any danger had passed.
She had sat thus some ten minutes or thereabouts, when a crackling of
the bushes across the stream caused her to raise her head, and she
caught sight of what appeared to be a large black bear.
It was only a partial glimpse that she obtained, and the animal seemed
to be going away from her further into the wood.
"I guess he hasn't seen me," she concluded, as something warned her
that she had already remained away from the cavern too long.
So she concluded to wait a few minutes longer, as she felt a reluctance
to awake the hunters, who so badly needed sleep.
A short time after, she heard a ripple in the water above her, and she
looked up-stream, but saw nothing.
For the reason she was a moment too late. Had she been a little more
prompt, she would have detected that same "Comanche bear," carefully
wading across the creek, and using his hind legs in such a manner that
he stood upright like a man.
Katrina was unusually short-sighted to-day. Even when the water in
front of her flowed by dark and discolored, she failed to take warning,
and sat some time longer in a sort of dreamy reverie, hardly conscious
of what was going on about her.
But after awhile she roused herself to her situation and with a sigh
rose to her feet, and started on her return.
Her senses were now on the alert, and so, when she had taken a dozen
steps or so, she caught a glimpse of the bear, she had seen some time
before, and it was now directly between her and the rocks she was
seeking to reach.
This was bad, as she still had no gun in hand, and could not therefore
defend herself if attacked.
The manner of the brute seemed to indicate that he was not aware of her
proximity, and she leaped lightly behind a tree, for the purpose of
concealing herself.
She stood thus some ten minutes, debating whether she should call to
Carsfield or Crockett, or wait until they should awake themselves, or
the bear should withdraw.
It looked as if the latter were about to be the case, as the bear
seemed to be browsing around in an aimless way, constantly on the move,
and therefore he would be likely soon to move far enough to one side to
permit her to reach her refuge.
For this she waited, now and then growing impatient at the tardy
movements of the bear. The latter was constantly stirring about, but
somehow or other, it appeared to be back and forth, between her and the
rocks, and never once so much to one side, as to tempt her to make the
effort.
Furthermore, Katrina could not shut her eyes to the fact, that the
brute was gradually approaching her.
This, in the course of a few minutes became so apparent, that the
girl felt that her situation was becoming critical. A terror of alarm
shook her frame, and she was on the point of uttering a call to her
lover, when the bear shied off to one side so much as to give her the
"opening," so ardently desired.
Katrina stood trembling and hesitating for a moment, and then with one
ejaculated prayer, started like a fawn for the rocks.
She did not look to the right nor left, but she had scarcely started,
when she became aware that the bear had risen on his hind feet and was
seeking to intercept her.
Faster she ran, until she seemed to fly over the ground, but the
bear was more fleet of foot than she, and scarcely a dozen steps had
elapsed, when it became certain that she was to be intercepted by her
enemy.
Then Katrina turned her affrighted gaze upon her foe, and instead
of a bear saw a Comanche warrior, with a bear-skin thrown over his
shoulder, and its frightful head upon top of his own, directly in front
of her.
Still she sought to escape him; but the next instant his brawny arm
was thrown around her, and as he turned to flee with his captive, her
terrified scream rung through the woods and she swooned away.