THE GREAT BEARS OF KADIAK.
This appeared to be only too true. The bears, so far as the boys could
observe through their peephole, were thin and famished from the long
winter they had spent in some cave back in the mountains, and intended
probably to remain camped by the creek as long as the salmon were
running.
Having finished his meal, the father bear lay down and rolled over in
sleep, while the mother and cub set about catching some more fish,
which they devoured. But instead of going to sleep as the boys hoped,
the old mother kept herself on sentry duty. Once or twice they caught
her looking toward the hut. It caused an uncomfortable sensation to
run through them.
Luckily they had a little water in the place, although none too much.
At any rate it would not satisfy more than their immediate needs. For
food there were a few crackers, the remains of the salmon that they
had broiled for breakfast, a few fragments of tinned beef and that was
all. The situation was about as serious as it could well be. All that
afternoon they took turns watching the creek, awaiting an opportunity
to sally forth after water. But the bears remained as if they meant to
take up permanent quarters there.
The question of how they were to make their escape began to be a
serious one with the practically imprisoned boys. The door of the hut
opened toward the creek and to attempt egress by that way would at
once attract the attention of the monster bears, with what results the
boys guessed only too well.
So the afternoon hours dragged away. Although tormented with thirst,
the boys decided to refrain from drinking more than enough of the
precious water to cool their mouths. From time to time one of them
would relieve his comrade at the peephole. But the bears remained
there as if firmly determined to stay. When the old mother bear took a
snooze, either the cub or the largest of the bruins was on sentry
duty.
"If only we had some rifles," sighed Tom. "This is a lesson to me as
long as we are in this country, I'll never leave ship or camp again
without a weapon of some sort."
"Wait till we get back to the ship or to a camp," scoffed Jack; "it's
my belief that we will be prisoners here till winter."
"Nonsense," said Tom sharply. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself,
Jack Dacre, for talking like that. It's no use giving way to despair.
Maybe we'll hit on some way of getting out before long."
"Not unless those bears change their minds and go back to their happy
mountain home," said Jack positively.
They sat in silence for a while.
"If it would only get dark up here like it does in more southerly
latitudes, we could take a chance on sneaking down to the dory and
getting away to some other part of the coast," said Tom at length.
"Couldn't we make it anyhow?" inquired Sandy.
Tom shook his head.
"I don't see how. The minute we came out of the hut one of the bears
would be bound to see us and take after us. They can run mighty fast,
too, in spite of their clumsy forms."
Another silence ensued. All the boys were thinking hard, from time to
time approaching the peephole to watch the bears.
"We might as well eat, I guess," said Tom at length.
The embers of the fire were still alive and fresh wood was piled on
till there was a cheerful blaze. The boys warmed their salmon above
it and fell to on what was the gloomiest meal they had ever eaten. In
the middle of his supper, Jack got up and went to the peephole. He
turned from it with a face full of alarm.
"The wind has carried the smoke down toward the bears and they are
sniffing at it suspiciously," he announced.
"Maybe it'll drive 'em away," suggested Sandy.
"They're not mosquitoes," scoffed Jack.
"Wow! they are coming this way, Tom! What in the world shall we do
now?"
"Sit tight. I don't know what else to do."
"But suppose they claw down the door?"
"In that case, our troubles will soon be over," was the brief reply.
What Jack had said was correct. The smoke drifting down on the bears
had caused them to sniff suspiciously. Hunters came to Kadiak Island
frequently, and doubtless they knew that smoke betokened the presence
of human beings. The big bear's fur bristled angrily. He gave a low
growl, which was echoed by his mate.
After sniffing and listening for a few seconds the great creatures,
the most formidable foes the boys had ever encountered, began slowly
to lumber up the slope from the creek toward the hut.
That they did not advance hastily made their approach even more
sinister in its effect. It was as if they were in no hurry to reach
the hut, as though they realized that they could afford to take their
time, their prey was so certain. The boys all realized, too, that when
animals are accompanied by their young they are rendered three times
as ferocious as on ordinary occasions.
"Maybe they'll sheer off after all," suggested Tom hopefully.
But his confidence was misplaced. The bears lumbered steadily forward
till they were wading through the tall, half dry grass that grew
almost up to the shack's sides. Then the female and the cub stopped,
and the big father bruin came on to investigate. For all the world
like some huge dog, he began sniffing around the walls at the base of
the oven-shaped structure.
Then, all at once, in an unlucky moment, he discovered the door. There
was quite a big crack under it, and the boys watched with
horror-struck eyes as the huge creature's sniffing and poking sent the
dust on the floor of the place flying up in little clouds. Then they
heard a heavy body hurled against the door and the scratching of feet
shod with claws as keen and sharp as steel chisels.
It was a thrilling moment for all of them. Jack and Sandy in
particular were badly scared. Their faces blanched and their knees
knocked. It hardly seemed possible that the door could survive the
attack of the monstrous creature that assailed it. But although built
of driftwood fastened together with old iron bolts and strips of skin,
the portal held its own much better than might have been expected. It
shook and trembled, but remained standing. After a while the bear
appeared to tire of this method of attack and ceased.
The boys breathed more easily.
"Perhaps he'll go away now," suggested Jack.
But a glimpse through the peephole showed that the bear had no
intention of doing anything of the sort. With the stubbornness of his
kind, he began pacing up and down in front of the hut, from time to
time emitting a low growl.
"Looks as if he meant to keep up the campaign on these lines if it
takes all summer," said Tom with grim pleasantry.