of the valley--there was a tall cliff, or rock wall, and over this
precipice all the mass of snow now was pouring, driven with such
mighty force against this wall of rock at its foot that it broke into
fine particles more like mist than snow. In a vast cascade it poured
down and out over the valley, making one of the most wonderful
spectacles a man could see anywhere in the mountains.
"There are rocks and trees going down in that cloud of snow, very
likely," said Uncle Dick, "but you can't see them. That's how Leo gets
his bear-hunting country made for him--eh, Leo?"
Leo grinned, but sat watching the snow-slide more indifferently than
the others, the work of the great forces of nature being accepted as a
matter of course in his philosophy. The others, however, could not
repress their wonder. The slide ran for several minutes, sometimes
subsiding and then breaking out in full force again, as the vast mass
of snow, dammed up by the edge of the rock wall, would from time to
time assume such proportions that the snow behind it finally drove it
forward over the brink. Thus in successive cascades it ran on, until
at last it died away in a faint dribble of thin white. Silence once
more reigned in the valley. With their glasses they could now plainly
see a vast mass of white choking the upper valley almost entirely
across.
"Now, boys," said their leader, "there is something in this mountain
work besides just hunting bear. The people who live in the lowlands
don't always stop to think very much where their rivers come from and
what keeps them up. Here you have seen the birth of a river, or a part
of a river. That mass of packed snow will lie there nearly all summer,
just melting a little bit at times, and feeding this stream which
runs right past us here. Still farther back in the mountains you'll
see the glaciers--great ice-fields which never thaw out completely.
These are the upper sponges of the mountains, squeezed each year by
the summer sun. That is why the rivers run and keep on running."
"It's wonderful to me," said Jesse. "I'm glad we saw that--and glad,
too, that we weren't camped right where it came down."
"Yes," assented his uncle. "In that case there would have been no
possible help for us. But good hunters in the high country always take
care not to pitch their camp where a slide can possibly come down on
them. We wouldn't have been more than so many straws under that mass
of snow and rocks."
They sat for some time in the bright morning sun, their wet clothing
gradually becoming dryer upon them as they moved about a little now
and then, or resumed their wait with Leo on the log. The young Indian
sat motionless, apparently indifferent to all discomforts, and with no
interest in anything except the controlling impulse of the hunt. His
keen eye roved from time to time over all the faces of the slides
near them in the valley, especially the one directly in front of them
at the right. Presently they noted that he was gazing intently for
some time at one spot, although he said nothing.
"Do you see anything, Leo?" asked John, idly.
"Yes, see 'um four bears, grizzlum," said Leo, quietly.
At once all the others started into interest. "Where are they, Leo?"
demanded Jesse. "I can't see them."
"Four grizzlum," reaffirmed Leo, quietly. "Up high. Up high, two; more
low, two."
Indeed, at last they saw that the hunter was not mistaken. There were
four bears all at once on the surface of the slides, but they were
almost concealed by the tall vegetation which in places had grown upon
it.
"He'll go dig pretty soon now," said Leo. "Ketch 'um gopher."
"You're mistaken, Leo," said Uncle Dick, "about two of those bears. I
can see them all plainly with the glasses now, and those lowest down
in the brush are black bears. The upper ones are grizzlies, and mighty
good ones, too."
"Oh, ho!" said Leo. "No see 'um good at first. Yes, two black bear--he
won't go close to grizzlum. Him scare' of grizzlum. Me no like 'um
black bear there. S'pose we go after grizzlum, them little black bear,
he'll ron off and scare grizzlum."
They sat watching the bears from their place in the middle of the
valley. The largest one began to advance deliberately toward the
middle of the slide, where they could see little heaps of yellow earth
thrown up by the burrowing gophers. The bear would look at these idly
and paw at them curiously now and then, but it was some time before he
began to dig in earnest.
The second grizzly, lower down on the slide, went earnestly to work,
and apparently was interested in something which he thought was
underneath a certain large rock. They later found that this rock must
have weighed three or four hundred pounds at least, although they saw
where the bear, putting his mighty forearm under it, had rolled it out
of its bed as easily as though it had been a pebble. There is no
animal in the world more powerful for its size than the mountain
grizzly.
Leo continued to express his dislike of the little black bears.
"S'pose grizzlum ketch plenty gopher, he stay sometam. We heap shoot
'um. But me no like 'um black bears. No get around 'um; they ron off
sure."
"Well, we'll wait awhile," said Uncle Dick, "and see what'll happen."
"Just look at them!" exclaimed Jesse, who was using the glasses now.
"They're playing like children, those little black bears."
They could see that these two smaller bears were apparently out more
for a lark than anything else. They would lie down sometimes flat on
the ground like dogs, or sit up in all kinds of awkward attitudes and
scratch themselves, first with one foot and then another. Sometimes
they would start off and gallop aimlessly for quite a distance, then,
turning, would run full tilt into each other and, standing up on their
hind legs, would box like men. At this sport one bear seemed to be the
better, and sometimes would land so hard a cuff on his comrade as to
knock the latter rolling down the hill, in which case the aggrieved
one, recovering himself, with ears laid back would run up once more
at his antagonist and resume the half-playful combat.
The two big grizzlies, stately and dignified, paid no attention to
these antics, but went on with their own employment of digging for
breakfast. Sometimes they would stand motionless, looking out over the
country, then leisurely go back to their digging. If they saw the
black bears they did not pay any attention to them.
At last the two little bears became either bolder or more careless,
and began to work higher up the slide. Then the nearest grizzly, his
mane erect on his shoulders, and head down, made a sort of short run
at them, half carelessly and indifferently, as though he held them in
contempt. At this both the black bears turned tail and galloped off
lumberingly into the forest, and were seen no more.
Leo, with a short grunt, arose and reached for his rifle. He made a
quick motion with his arm for the others to follow, and set out in the
direction which would put him downwind from the game. In order to
reach the proper side of the slide they had to walk in full view in
the open valley, directly below the two bears, but Leo seemed to be
not in the least uneasy about this.
"Grizzlum not see 'um very good," said he. "He can't look half-mile.
Smell 'um very good."
When they reached the edge of the timber and made ready for the climb
up the side of the slide, the Indian turned inquiringly to Uncle Dick
and patted his rifle on the stock. "S'pose two bear, grizzlum?" he
said.
"All right, Leo," said Uncle Dick; "you're in on this hunt with the
rest of us. We'll all load our rifles here. Now, John, you go on with
Leo, and take the grizzly highest up. He's maybe the biggest; I don't
know. Jesse and I will stop opposite the bear which is lowest down and
wait till you get in reach of yours. When you do, open up, and we'll
shoot as soon as we see ours. The slide is narrow up there, and
they'll be under cover in forty yards. There are two robes too good to
lose, and we'll all just take a hand in stopping them."
"I'd like to kill one all by myself the way Rob did," said Jesse,
although it must be admitted he was just a trifle pale.
"Maybe you will," said his uncle. "But any hunter has to take a bear
just as he finds his chance. It's always best for two men to go up
together on a grizzly, no matter how good a hunter either may be. It
isn't often that you get as good a chance as Rob had on his bear. You
leave that to Leo and me. And, Leo, mind now, give your boy the first
shot at the bear if it's a possible thing to do it. I'll do the same
way with Jesse."
They began now their steady climb under cover, sometimes in the edge
of the forest, and sometimes on the face of the slide itself. They
were surprised to see that what had appeared to be a flat green slope
was really a very steep one, and covered in some places with bushes
much higher than their heads, with tall, rank shrubs and early
vegetation of many sorts. Leo, as good a grizzly-hunter as could have
been found in all the west, was allowed to lead the way, and he took
good care never to get within sight of the game or to allow the wind
to blow from him toward the bears. He climbed so fast that the others
had much difficulty in keeping up with him. But at length, making a
swift detour in the forest, he paused and raised a hand.
They could hear now the whining, grumbling voice of the grizzly, as
though he were complaining about his poor luck with the gophers, now
and then a grunt of anger or disgust as he tugged at some rock. They
knew this to be the larger bear, the one higher up the hillside. Leo
pointed that way and caught John by the arm, motioning to Uncle Dick
and Jesse to advance straight toward the slide in their position.
Without hesitation John dropped in behind his guide; and Jesse,
whether or not he felt any trace of fear, in turn followed his own
leader. Thus for the moment the two parties were separated.
In a few moments Leo and John were at the edge of their cover. The
Indian caught the boy roughly by the arm, at the same time cocking his
own gun. They were in the edge of a little poplar thicket which jutted
out from the pine forest upon the slide. Leo would have preferred to
get above his bear, as all good hunters do, but saw that the cover
above would not be so good. Now, as John stepped to the edge of the
thicket he saw the great grizzly directly above him, not thirty yards
away up the slope.
At the same instant also the bear saw the hunters. He stood looking
down at them, champing his jaws like a big hog and making no motion
either offensive or defensive. John reached one hand back to quiet
Leo, who had given him a strong dig in the back. Then quickly he
raised his rifle and fired. It was impossible to restrain the Indian
much longer, and his shot was so close to John's that they sounded
almost like one, although John really was first to hit the bear.
The mark was easy enough for any one of any sort of steadiness, for
the bear stood with his broad breast full toward them. John's bullet,
as they found, struck fair enough and ranged deep into the great body,
while Leo's landed on one shoulder. It is possible neither shot would
have knocked the bear down, but any bear, when hit, will drop. This
one, with an angry roar which could have been heard half a mile, let
go and came down directly toward them, rolling and clawing, biting at
itself, and struggling to catch its footing. John fired again, and to
his shame be it said that this time his bullet went wild. At his side,
however, Leo, brave as a soldier, stood firm, rapidly working the
lever of his own rifle. John recovered presently and joined in. In a
few seconds, although it seemed long to the younger hunter, their
double fire had accounted for the grizzly, which rolled over and
expired very close to them, its body caught in its descent by two or
three trees.
Meantime--although John declared he never had heard it--there came
from below the roar of the rifles of Jesse and Uncle Dick. The second
bear, perhaps more wary than its mate or perhaps warmer from its
digging, had left the open space and taken shelter in a little clump
of green bushes close to the point where the two hunters approached
the slide. When the sound of firing began above, this bear, much
excited, began to plunge wildly this way and that inside the clump of
bushes. At last it broke cover almost upon Jesse, who was standing in
front.
"Shoot!" called Uncle Dick, in quick command; and Jesse fired, almost
without aim, into what seemed a great gray mass which ran as though
directly over him. Almost at the same instant Uncle Dick fired also
and then, like their companions above, they both fired rapidly as they
could until their bear also at last lay quiet, but dangerously close
at hand.
Uncle Dick pushed back his hat and wiped his forehead, looking at
Jesse half quizzically. "Son," said he, "it's lucky we both were here.
That bear was either badly scared or good and angry. It meant
business, I believe, and it's a lucky thing we stopped it when we
did."
Jesse put his rifle to the ground and stood trembling all over. "Well,
Uncle Dick," said he, "I don't know whether or not the bear was
scared, but I know _I_ am right now."
"It's just as well to be honest," said his uncle, putting a hand
kindly on his shoulder. "Any man has a right to be anxious in as close
a corner as this."
They heard the loud hallo of John now, a little way above them; and
presently Leo came slipping down toward them, smiling broadly.
"Kill 'um two bear!" said he. "Plenty good hunt, eh?" He looked at the
little heap of empty shells lying so close to the dead bear.
"Two grizzlum, both fight," said he. "Bad bear. Heap shoot 'um."
"And I'm mighty glad we're no worse off," said Uncle Dick, when in
turn they had passed from one of the great grizzlies to the other.
"And, speaking of luck, you boys certainly have had it in every way.
Leo, it looks to me as though you put us up almost too close on these
bears."
"No see 'um from trees," said Leo. "I like shoot 'um bear close up.
Heap shoot 'um. This boy he heap shoot 'um too."
"All is well that ends well," said their leader. "Now here we are
again, with two big bear-hides to get down out of these mountains. Are
you satisfied, boys--good and plenty satisfied?"
"I should say so," said Jesse, smiling; and they all laughed at him.
"I don't know that I ever knew of a better hunt," said Uncle Dick, at
last, looking approvingly at the two bears. They had rolled and pulled
the upper bear down to the lower, so that they now lay side by side.
"Three bears like this in two days is certainly considerable hunting.
These are big as Rob's bear. The robes are prime, too, and not rubbed
to amount to anything--one dark silver tip and one gray fellow. You
can't ever tell what color a grizzly is going to have or what he is
going to do."
They fell to work now, each party skinning out its own bear, a task
which kept them employed for some time.
"We'd better kill the next bears closer to the foot of the slide,"
said Jesse, laughing. "Then we won't have to carry the skins so far."
"A good idea," assented his uncle. "I'm telling you, a full-sized
grizzly-hide, green, is all a strong man can pack."
"We'll not try to carry them down to the main camp, will we?" inquired
Jesse.
"Indeed, no. We'll be lucky if we make it back to last night's camp
down the valley. There's a bare chance that we may meet Moise and
George there. They won't know where we are, unless they heard us
shooting."
Leo came up to them at about this time, and stood looking at Jesse's
bear for some time. "S'pose me get 'um two twenty dollar, now?" said
he, looking at Uncle Dick. The latter looked at him quizzically for a
time, rubbing his chin with a finger.
"Well, Leo," said he, "you're a pretty good business man as well as a
good grizzly-hunter. So you want to cash in on our bear, do you? All
right; I feel so good about it that I'll just go you--you shall have
twenty dollars a head for these bears--and sixty dollars in two days,
besides your wages, ought to leave you and your cousin George pretty
well satisfied, eh?"
"Yes, feel heap good," said Leo, grinning. "Buy plenty flour now.
Plenty grub on Fort George."
"You're no better satisfied than we are, my friend," rejoined the
white hunter. Leo extended his hand, and they shook hands all around.
"I'm willing to go on down the river now," said John; and Jesse smiled
his assent.
With some labor they squared the two hides into a portable pack, one
for each of the men, binding them into place with bits of thongs which
each carried at his belt. Then, using their belts as tump-straps, Leo
and Uncle Dick shouldered their heavy loads and started down the
mountain.
XXIII
ONWARD BOUND
They had gone down the valley only about half a mile, now and then
splashing through the shallow fords of the meandering little stream
which spread all over the flat, gravelly floor of the valley, when
they heard a shout and saw Moise advancing rapidly toward them. That
worthy came up smiling, as usual, and beginning to talk before he came
within good ear-range.
"Hollo!" he cried. "Some more bear? Plenty bear now, this tam?"
Uncle Dick halted and dropped his pack to the ground. "Welcome!
Moise," said he. "I don't know that I ever was gladder to see you in
my life--this load is heavy."
"I'll take heem," said Moise. "My faith, she's big bear, heem, too,
eh? Two beeg bear"--and he lifted also the other pack which Leo had
dropped down. "I hear you shoot when I come on the camp here, and I
say to myself, 'Moise, those boy he kill more bear, sure.' Bime-by I
come up, help you get load down the hill. George, he's make cup tea on
the camp; Rob, he's down below on the big camp, on the boat.
"Didn't I told you, Leo," continued Moise, exultantly, "those boy,
she's the most best grizzly-hunter ever come on the Tete Jaune Cache,
heem?" And Leo this time grinned his assent and approval.
They now made their way back to the bivouac camp where they had passed
the night, and where they were much refreshed by a lunch and a cup of
tea all around, after which they made ready to get back down to the
valley of the Canoe as rapidly as possible. All the men had
particularly heavy loads to carry, and even the boys took on light
packs of blankets or camp equipment.
They made the journey around the point of the mountain and down into
the Creek Valley which ran into the Canoe without much incident,
except that on the side-hill snowdrifts George, carrying one of the
bear-hides, slipped by reason of a broken foothold in the thawing
snow, and had a considerable roll downhill with his load before he
brought up against a little tree. To the others this seemed a
dangerous experience; but Leo, like any other Indian, found it only
laughable, and he derided George for some time in their own language.
George seemed very much chagrined, for no Indian likes to make a
mistake or be humiliated in the presence of others.
As may be supposed, Rob greeted them, on their arrival at the main
camp, with the greatest delight in the world.
"Well, what luck!" exclaimed he. "Two more hides--that's one apiece!
Did each of you get one, fellows?"
The three boys now shook hands all around, and for a long time they
chatted gaily together, telling one another the many exciting
incidents of their hunt. They all agreed that certainly they were the
luckiest young hunters that ever had gone after grizzlies.
"I don't know how you all feel about it now," said Rob, finally, "but
for my part I would be content to run straight on down and not stop
for any more hunting. I've been watching my water-mark here, and this
river has risen almost a foot in the last twenty-four hours. That
means that the snows are beginning to go on the upper snow-fields.
We've had a big hunt, so let's take out the rest of it in a big run on
the old Columbia--they say that's worse than grizzlies."
The others assented to this readily enough, for, wet, tired, and
successful as they were, they welcomed the thought of a night's rest
and a journey in the boats, which, taking one thing with another, they
knew would be easier than climbing after grizzlies in the mountains.
They all slept soundly that night in their mosquito-proof tent, and in
the morning were much refreshed. All bore a hand in breaking the camp
and loading the boats, and early in the day they were once more off in
their swift journey down the mountain river. The river itself seemed
to have changed almost overnight. From being mild and inoffensive it
now brawled over its reefs and surged madly through its canyons. Many
times they were obliged to go ashore and line down some of the bad
water, and all the time, when running, the paddlers were silent and
eager, looking ahead for danger, and obliged constantly to use care
with the paddles to dodge this rock or to avoid that stretch of
roaring water. There was no accident, however, to mar their progress,
and they kept on until in the afternoon they reached a place where the
valley seemed to flatten and spread, a wide and beautiful mountain
prospect opening out before them. After a time, at the head of a long
stretch of water, as both boats were running along side by side, they
saw suddenly unfold before them the spectacle of a wide, green flood,
beyond which rose a wedgelike range of lofty mountains, the inner
peaks of which were topped with snow.
"_La Grande Riviere!_" exclaimed Moise; and Leo turned his head to
shout: "Ketch 'um Columby!"
"Yes, there's the Columbia, boys," said Uncle Dick. And the three
young hunters in the boat waved their hats with a shout at seeing at
last this great river of which they had heard so much, and which had
had so large a place in their youthful dreams.
Steadily the boat swept on down the stained and tawny current of their
smaller river, until they felt beneath them the lift of the green
flood of the great Columbia, here broken into waves by the force of an
up-stream wind. Uncle Dick called out an order to the lead-boat. Soon
they all were ashore on a little beach near the mouth of the Canoe
River, each feeling that now at last a great stage of their journey
had been completed, and that another yet as great still lay before
them.
XXIV
THE BOAT ENCAMPMENT
Our party of adventurers were now in one of the wildest and most
remote regions to be found in all the northern mountains, and one
perhaps as little known as any to the average wilderness goer--the
head of the Big Bend of the Columbia River; that wild gorge, bent in a
half circle, two hundred miles in extent, which separates the Selkirks
from the Rockies. There are few spots on this continent farther from
settlements of civilized human beings.
To the left, up the great river, lay a series of mighty rapids,
impossible of ascent by any boat. Nearly a hundred miles that way
would have been the nearest railroad point, that on the Beaver Mouth
River. Down-stream to the southward more than a hundred miles of water
almost equally dangerous lay before them. Back of them lay the steep
pitch of the Canoe River, down which they had come. Before them
reared the mighty wedge of the Selkirks, thrusting northward. Any way
they looked lay the wilderness, frowning and savage, and offering
conditions of travel perhaps the most difficult to be found in any
part of this continent.
"I congratulate you, young men," said Uncle Dick, at last, as they sat
silently gazing out over this tremendous landscape. "This is a man's
trip, and few enough men have made it. So far as I know, there has
never been a boy here before in the history of all this valley which
we see here before us."
Rob and John began to bend over their maps, both those which they had
brought with them and that which John was still tracing out upon his
piece of paper.
"We can't be far from the Boat Encampment here," said Rob, at last.
[Illustration: THE BIG BEND OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER]
"It's just around the corner of the Big Bend here," rejoined their
leader. "Over yonder a few hundred yards away is the mouth of the Wood
River, and the Encampment lies beyond that. That's the end of the
water trail of the Columbia going east, and the end of the land trail
for those crossing the Athabasca Pass and going west. Many a bold
man in the past has gone by this very spot where we now stand. There
isn't much left to mark their passing, even at the old Boat
Encampment, but, if you like, we'll go up there and have a look at
the old place."