But before that winter closed, ay, before it began, a great victory was
gained, which merits special mention here. Let us retrace our steps a
little.
One morning, while Ian Macdonald was superintending the preparation of
breakfast in some far-away part of the western wilderness, and Michel
Rollin was cutting firewood, Victor Ravenshaw came rushing into camp
with 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 that
time, when the autumn was nearly over, and hope had almost died in the
breast of our scholastic backwoodsman, the news burst upon him with the
thrilling force of an electric shock.
"Now, Ian, take your gun and go in and win," said Victor with
enthusiasm, for the youth had been infected with Rollin's spirit of
gallantry.
"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 do
love 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 his
earnest advice that Ian should take his gun and go in and win. But Ian
shook his head.
"My dear boy," he said, with a sigh, "it's of no use my attempting to
shoot a bear, or anything else. I don't know what can be wrong with my
vision, I can see as clear and as far as the best of you, and I'm not
bad, you'll allow, at following up a trail over hard ground; but when it
comes 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 miss
it. No, Vic, I must give up the idea of shooting altogether."
"What! have you forgotten the saying, `Faint heart never won fair
lady?'" exclaimed Victor, in surprise.
"Nay, lad, my memory is not so short as that, neither is my heart as
faint as you seem to think it. I do intend to go in and win, but I
shall do it after a fashion of my own, Vic."
Rollin, who came up at the moment and flung a bundle of sticks on the
fire, demanded to know what "vas the vashion" referred to.
"That I won't tell you at present, boys," said Ian; "but, if you have
any regard for me, you'll make me a solemn promise not in any way to
interfere with me or my plans unless you see me in actual and imminent
danger of losing my life."
"Jus' so," said Rollin, with a nod, "ye vill not step in to de reskoo
till you is at de very last gasp."
Having obtained the requisite promise, Ian set off with his comrades to
examine the bear's track. There could be but one opinion as to the size
of 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 if
it had been of an undecided temperament. Moreover the track was quite
fresh.
Of course there was much eager conversation about it among the friends;
carried on in subdued tones and whispers, as if they feared that the
bear might be listening in a neighbouring bush. After discussing the
subject 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 more
fully, and make preparations for the hunt. Ian, however, cut short
their deliberations by reminding his comrades of their promise, and
claiming the strict fulfilment of it.
"If this thing is to be undertaken by me," he said, "I must have it all
my 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 not
give a fellow some sort of idea what your plan is, so that, if we can't
have the pleasure of helping you, we may at least enjoy the comfort of
thinking 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 heard
of its having been attempted with grizzlies before, though I have heard
of it in connection with other bears. Besides, I may fail, in which
case the less that is known about my failure the better. Only this much
will I say, the idea has been suggested to me by the formation of the
land hereabouts. You know there is a gap or pass in the rocks just
ahead of us, through which the bear seems to have passed more than once
in the course of his rambles. Well, that gap is the spot where I will
make my attempt. If you follow me to that gap I will at once return to
camp and let you manage the matter yourselves."
"Well, well, do as you please," said Victor, with a laugh, "and the
sooner you set about it the better. Rollin and I will ride away some
miles in the opposite direction and see if we can't get hold of a wild
goose for supper."
"Ha! perhaps de grizzly vill get hold of anoder and a vilder goose for
supper," said Rollin, with a shake of his head.
When his companions had departed, Ian Macdonald cleaned his gun
carefully and loaded with ball; then placing his axe in his belt beside
his scalping-knife, he proceeded with long and rapid strides towards the
gap 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 rocky
ridge with which the country at that place was intersected for a
considerable distance. The ridge itself, and the pass by which it was
divided, were thickly covered with trees and dense undergrowth.
The floor of the pass was level, although rugged, and the rocks on
either side rose in a sheer precipice, so that whoever should attempt to
penetrate without wings to the region beyond must needs go by that
narrow cut.
Arrived at the middle of the pass, where it was narrowest, Ian leant his
gun against the precipice on one side, took off his coat, tucked up his
sleeves, grasped his axe, and attacked a mighty tree. Like Ulysses of
old, he swung the axe with trenchant power and skill. Huge chips flew
circling round. Ere long a goodly tree creaked, groaned, and finally
fell with a crash upon the ground. It was tough work. Ian heaved a
sigh of satisfaction and wiped his streaming brow as he surveyed the
fallen monarch. There was another king of the same size near to the
opposite precipice, which he felled in the same way. Both monarchs
mingled and severely injured their royal heads in the middle of the
pass, which thus became entirely blocked up, for our woodsman had so
managed that the trees fell right across it.
Next, Ian attacked the united heads, and with great labour hewed a
passage 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 on
the boulder. The result of all this hewing and guiding of the falling
monarchs was that the only available track through the pass was a hole
about four feet in diameter, with a tree of great weight suspended above
it by the boulder.
To chop off the branches and convert this latter tree into a log did not
take long. Neither did it take much time or exertion to fashion a sort
of support, or trigger, in the shape of a figure 4, immediately under
the log, so as to obstruct the hole before mentioned. But to lower the
log gently from the boulder on to this trigger without setting it off
was 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 the
ground, ten Ian Macdonalds could not have raised it up again. It was
accomplished at last, however, and several additional heavy logs were
leaned upon the main one to increase its weight.
"If he returns this way at all, he will come in the evening," muttered
Ian to himself, as he sat down on a stump and surveyed his handiwork
with a smile of satisfaction. "But perhaps he may not come back till
morning, in which case I shall have to watch here all night, and those
impatient geese in the camp will be sure to disturb us on the plea that
they 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 thought
banished the smile of satisfaction from Ian's face. In a meditative
mood he took up his gun, refreshed the priming and slightly chipped the
flint, 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 the
propriety of going to a neighbouring height to view the surrounding
country, 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 an
hour, considering the row I have been kicking up with hacking and
crashing. Come, I'll go to the top of that crag, and have a look
round."
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 could
see the whole pass beneath him, except the spot where his trap had been
laid. That portion was vexatiously hidden by an intervening clump of
bushes. Next moment he was petrified, so to speak, by the sight of a
grizzly bear sauntering slowly down the pass as if in the enjoyment of
an afternoon stroll.
No power on earth--except, perhaps, a glance from Elsie--could have
unpetrified Ian Macdonald at that moment. He stood in the
half-crouching attitude of one about to spring over the cliff--
absolutely motionless--with eyes, mouth, and nostrils wide open, as if
to afford free egress to his spirit.
Not until the bear had passed slowly out of sight behind the intervening
bushes was he disenchanted. Then, indeed, he leaped up like a startled
deer, turned sharp round, and bounded back the way he had come, with as
much caution and as little noise as was compatible with such vigorous
action.
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 threat
somehow. Swallowing it with much difficulty, he ran on, but a roar such
as was never uttered by human lungs almost stopped his circulation. A
few seconds brought Ian within view of his trap, and what a sight
presented itself!
A grizzly bear, which seemed to him the hugest, as it certainly was at
that moment the fiercest, that ever roamed the Rocky Mountains, was
struggling furiously under the weight of the ponderous tree, with its
superincumbent load of logs. The monster had been caught by the small
of the back--if such a back can be said to have possessed a small of any
kind--and its rage, mingled as it must have been with surprise, was
awful to witness.
The whole framework of the ponderous trap trembled and shook under the
influence of the animal's writhings. Heavy though it was, the bear
shook it so powerfully at each spasm of rage, that it was plainly too
weak to hold him long. In the event of his breaking out, death to the
trapper was inevitable.
Ian did not hesitate an instant. His chief fear at the moment was that
his comrades at the camp might have heard the roaring--distant though
they 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 rested
with the bear! Ian resolved to make sure work. He would put missing
out of the question. The tremendous claws that had already worked a
small pit in the earth reminded him of the collar and of Elsie. Leaping
forward, he thrust the point of his gun into the ear of the infuriated
animal and pulled the trigger. He was almost stunned by the report and
roar, together with an unwonted shock that sent him reeling backward.
We know not how a good twist-barrelled gun would behave if its muzzle
were thus stopped, but the common Indian gun used on this occasion was
not meant to be thus treated. It was blown to pieces, and Ian stood
gazing in speechless surprise at the fragment of wood remaining in his
hand. How far it had injured the bear he could not tell, but the shot
had not apparently abated its power one jot, for it still heaved upwards
in a paroxysm of rage, and with such force as nearly to overthrow the
complex erection that held it down. Evidently there was no time to
lose.
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 the
neck-bone. Instead of succumbing to the tremendous blow, it gave the
handle of the axe a vicious twist with its paw, which jerked the hunter
violently to the ground. Before he could recover himself, the claws
which he coveted so much were deep in his right thigh. His presence of
mind did not forsake him even then. Drawing his scalping-knife, he
wrenched himself round, and twice buried the keen weapon to the haft in
the bear's side.
Just then an unwonted swimming sensation came over Ian; his great
strength 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 with
pleasant tranquillity down upon his upturned countenance when
consciousness returned to Ian Macdonald.
"Ah, Vic!" he murmured, with a long sad sigh; "I've had such a splendid
dream!"
"Come, that's right, old boy. Here, have another mouthful," said
Victor, holding a tin can to his friend's lips. "It's only tea, hot and
strong--the best thing in the world to refresh a wounded man; and after
such a fight--"
"What!" exclaimed Ian, starting and sitting bolt upright, while he gazed
in 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. Be
bedder in a veek."
"Look here," said Victor, kneeling beside the wounded man and presenting
to him a piece of wood on which were neatly arranged a row of formidable
claws. "I knew you would like to see them."
"How good of you, Vic! It was thoughtful of you, and kind. Put them
down before me--a little nearer--there,--so."
Ian gazed in speechless admiration. It was not that he was vain of the
achievement; 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 his
bad shooting, to present Elsie with a set of claws that were greatly
superior to those given to her mother by Louis Lambert--the finest, in
short, that he had ever seen.