A BEAR HUNT
If Dave had been dismayed before, he was doubly so now, for he expected
each instant to see his employer lose his hold and follow the cedar
tree to the jagged rocks far below.
But even in that moment of peril Washington did not lose his presence
of mind. Still clinging to the rocks with all the strength of his
fingers he called to the youth to tie the end of the chain to one of
the poles which were not far away.
“Take the pole with the cross-piece,” he said. “And tie the chain well.”
Dave was quick to understand, and fairly flew to do as bidden. Then
when the chain was fast, he lowered it again, and also the pole, taking
care to keep a firm hold on the latter.
The chain now came within reach of the surveyor, but before he trusted
himself to it he looked up at the boy. “Are you well braced?” he
questioned.
“I am,” answered Dave. “One foot is against the rock and the other
against the tree. But I doubt, sir, if I can pull you up.”
“It will not be necessary so long as you can keep the pole and chain
from slipping,” answered Washington. “If you feel it getting away from
you, give me warning.”
Dave agreed, and the surveyor began to pull himself up with extreme
care, keeping one hand on the rocks the majority of the time. But the
youth was as good as his word and held fast, although the strain was
great, for Washington was large and of good weight.
In a few minutes the surveyor reached the end of the pole. He was now
within ten feet of the top of the slippery rocks and the most difficult
part of the climb was before him.
“You are sure you can hold the pole?” he asked. “I must now trust my
whole weight to it.”
“Yes, sir, I am sure. But you will have to be careful and not bend it,
or it may break.”
“I will have a care, David.”
Slowly Washington came up, hand over hand, and lying close on the
rocks. He moved only a few inches at a time. Presently he reached the
top with his fingers and drew himself to a place of safety. Dave gave a
long sigh of relief, and hauled up the pole and chain.
“That was a narrow escape,” was Washington’s comment, with something of
a shudder.
“Indeed it was, sir.”
“You did me a great service, David, and one I shall not forget, I
promise you.”
“It’s lucky I had the chain and pole. I don’t suppose you could have
held on to those rocks much longer.”
“You are right, lad.”
In a little while the surveying proceeded, and soon both were as hard
at work as ever. But for the remainder of the day Washington was in a
thoughtful mood and spoke but little.
Winter was coming, and on the day following a light flurry of snow
told the surveyor that he must hurry with his work or it would remain
unfinished that season.
“There is no use of our being caught in the mountains and snowed in,”
he said. “Besides, it would not do for me. My brother, Mr. Lawrence
Washington, is far from well, and I am anxious to be near him should he
grow worse.”
“Why, I heard he was going out hunting with Lord Fairfax,” said Dave.
“He thought of going, but I doubt if he will.”
Two days later, when they were finishing up the survey in the mountain
gap, there came another flurry of snow. With the white flakes flying
all around them, they worked from daylight to dusk with only a few
minutes’ rest for lunch.
“By to-morrow it may be too late to do anything,” said Washington.
They were encamped at the side of a cliff. Here they had found a fallen
hemlock and over this spread their canvas and some cedar boughs. There
were rocks on two sides of the shelter, keeping out a good share of the
wind and making it quite comfortable. Late as it was that night, they
piled extra cedar boughs on a third side, leaving only a narrow opening
for an entrance, and brought all their provisions inside.
“Now, if we are storm-bound we will not be so very badly off,” said the
surveyor.
“But I trust we are not storm-bound,” answered Dave. “We might be laid
up for several weeks.”
“Hardly, at this time of year. Were it later in the season I should get
out of the mountains with all speed.”
Being utterly worn out with the long day’s work, it did not take Dave
long to fall asleep and Washington soon followed. In the meantime
the wind fell and the snow continued to come down, more heavily than
before. This continued until shortly after midnight, when the storm
cleared away, and by three o’clock the stars were shining.
“David!” It was Washington calling, at the first light of day, and the
boy at once sprang up.
“Yes, sir.”
“Have you been at our traps?”
“At the traps?” repeated the lad, in some confusion. “Why, what do you
mean?”
“The traps have been dragged outside and scattered in all directions.”
“Oh, Mr. Washington! No, I had nothing to do with it. I’ve been asleep
all the night.”
Dave followed his employer outside and saw that what Washington said
was true--the traps were indeed scattered in all directions, and, what
was even of more importance, the entire supply of meat, fresh and
jerked, was missing.
“Who could have done this?” asked the youth. “I didn’t hear anybody
about the camp during the night.”
“Nor I, David. But it has been done, and we are out the larger portion
of our provisions.”
“Here are tracks in the snow, Mr. Washington. But they are the tracks
of some wild beast. Would a wild beast dare to come so close, and with
that camp-fire burning there?”
“A bear would--if he was hungry.”
“A bear! Do you think it was a bear made off with the meat?”
“I do not know what else to think, David. The provisions are gone, and
those are the only tracks leading from the camp.”
“But I see no tracks leading _to_ the camp,” went on Dave, looking
around in the snow.
“No, and that proves that the animal came here while it was snowing
and went away after it cleared off. The tracks made coming have been
covered up.”
“Think of a bear so close and both of us fast asleep!” said Dave, with
a shiver. “I suppose we can be thankful that he spared our lives.”
“A bear will not attack a man unless he finds it necessary. Had he been
very hungry and had there been no food around he might have pounced
upon us.”
“But what shall we do now? We haven’t a pound of meat left.”
At this Washington laughed. “I propose to go after my meat,” he said.
“And if I cannot get my meat back then I’ll try for the bear himself.”
“A bear hunt! Just the thing! You’ll let me go along, won’t you?”
“I don’t know whether it would be right or not, David. I promised your
uncle to take good care of you.”
“But if you leave me here alone, the bear may come back,” insisted the
youth.
“True, too--although I doubt if he will return. However, you can go
with me if you’ll promise to be careful and keep back when I tell you.”
“I’ll promise.”
Little more was said, and Dave bustled around to prepare breakfast,
which consisted principally of crackers and coffee and what was left
of some jam in the bottom of a jar. The meal over, they placed all
the traps in a hollow and over them put some brush and several heavy
stones. Then they set off, each with his rifle in hand, on the track of
the bear.
“It may prove a bootless chase,” said Washington, as they moved
forward. “That bear can readily climb where it will be impossible to
follow him.”
“But he has that meat to carry,” answered Dave. “That will hinder him
somewhat.”
“True.”
The trail of the bear led around the end of the cliff and then upward,
between the mountain forest and a cedar brake. Here the rocks, at
certain points, were almost bare, and more than once the footprints
were lost.
The sun was now coming out, making the melting snow glisten like
diamonds. It promised to be much warmer than formerly and Washington
rightly calculated that all the snow would melt before nightfall.
The cedar brake passed, the trail led through the forest, and down into
something of a hollow. At one point they saw that the bear had paused,
either to rest or to feast upon the stolen meat.
“I am of the opinion that from here on he carried the meat on the
inside,” remarked Washington. “It was the easier way.” This was said so
soberly that Dave felt compelled to laugh outright.
The bottom of the hollow gained, they followed a dried-up watercourse
for quarter of a mile, and then came to a series of rough rocks, with
dark hollows between. At once the surveyor called a halt and advised
Dave to be cautious.
“Yonder looks like a regular bear’s den,” he said; “And if that is so,
there may be a whole family of the animals around. Keep your eyes open,
and if you see anything don’t shoot until you are certain of your aim.”
[Illustration: An instant later the bear discovered them.--_Page 127._]
Having thus delivered himself, Washington led the advance from the
right, while Dave moved forward on the left. Step by step they came
closer to the rocks, each with his rifle raised, ready to shoot as soon
as it became necessary. The tracks were plain here and both felt
that the bear could not have gone beyond the wall of rocks further back.
Suddenly the surveyor halted and called softly to Dave to do the same.
He had caught sight of a large, black body crouching behind the first
of the rocks. An instant later the bear discovered them and gave a low,
savage growl, at the same time leaping on the rocks in full view of
both.
Crack! It was Washington’s rifle that spoke up first and his aim was
so true that the bear was hit fairly and squarely in the forehead and
badly stunned, though not mortally wounded. Then Dave fired, landing a
ball in the beast’s shoulder.
A fearful growling and snapping followed, and the bear tumbled from
the rock and rolled over and over. But it was still able to fight, and
regaining its legs, rushed toward Dave, who was not slow to retreat,
doing his best to reload his rifle as he ran.
“Keep out of his reach, David!” called out Washington. “Come this way
and let me get another shot at him!”
Dave heard the cry, but it was several seconds before he could veer
around in the surveyor’s direction, for the bear kept somewhat between
its two human enemies. But at last he got beside Washington, and then
the latter let drive a second time, now landing a bullet in the bear’s
vitals.
Two steps more, and the animal went down a second time and rolled over,
gasping and snarling in a horrible fashion. Seeing the beast was almost
done for Dave plucked up courage and ran close to it and let it have
a fourth bullet in the ear. This was the finishing touch, and the big
black bear gave a shudder and lay dead at their feet.