FROM WHERE young Brainerd was perched on the tree it was impossible to
catch a glimpse of the steam man, so patiently awaiting his return.
The distance was also too great for him to make himself beard by the
miners, who were hard at work twenty miles away.
Fruitful in expedients, it was not long before the boy found a
resource in his trouble. Tearing a large strip from his coat, he tore
this into smaller strips, until he had secured a rope half a dozen
yards in length. Upon the end of this he placed a loop, and then,
descending to the lowest limb, he devoted himself to the task of
drooping it over the end of his gun. It fortunately had fallen in such
a manner that the muzzle was somewhat elevated, so that here was a
good opportunity for the exercise of his skill and patience.
When the first attempt was made the bear suddenly clawed at it and
tore it from the boy's hand before he could jerk it beyond his reach.
So he was compelled to make another one.
Nothing discouraged, the boy soon had this completed, and it was
dropped down more cautiously than before. When the grizzly made a
lunge at it, it was deftly twitched out of his way.
This was repeated several times, until the brute became disgusted with
the sport, and dropping down behind the tree, let the boy do all the
fishing he chose.
Now was his time, but the boy did not allow his eagerness to overcome
the steadiness of his nerves. It required no little skill, but he
finally succeeded in dropping the noose over the muzzle of the gun and
jerked it up taut.
With a heart beating high with hope, Johnny saw it lifted clear of the
ground, and he began carefully drawing it up. The grizzly looked
curiously at his maneuvers, and once made as if to move toward the
dangling rifle; but, ere his mind was settled, it was drawn beyond his
reach, and the cold muzzle was grasped in the hand of the eagerly
waiting boy.
While drawing it up, he had been debating with himself as to the best
means of killing the brute. Remembering that his first shot had done
no harm, he sensibly concluded that he had not yet learned the
vulnerable part of the monster.
His gun was loaded very carefully, and when everything was ready he
made a noise, to attract the attention of the brute. The bear looked
up instantly, when the gun was aimed straight at his right eye.
Ere the grizzly could withdraw his gaze, the piece was discharged, and
the bullet sped true, crashing into the skull of the colossal brute.
With a howling grunt, he rose upon his hind feet, clawed the air a few
moments, and then dropped dead.
Young Brainerd waited until he was certain that the last spark of life
had fled, when he cautiously descended the tree, scarcely able to
realize the truth that he had slain a grizzly bear, the monarch of the
western wilderness. But such was the fact, and he felt more pride at
the thought than if he had slain a dozen buffaloes.
'If I only had him in the wagon,' he reflected, 'I'd take him into
camp, for they will never believe I killed a grizzly bear.'
However, it occurred to him that he might secure some memento, and
accordingly he cut several claws and placed them in his pocket. This
done, he concluded that, as the afternoon was well advanced, it was
time he started homeward.
His hurried flight from the ferocious brute had bewildered him
somewhat, and, when he took the direction he judged to be the right
one, he found nothing familiar or remembered, from which fact he
concluded he was going astray.
But a little computation on his part, and he soon righted himself, and
was walking along quite hopefully, when he received another severe
shock of terror, at hearing the unmistakable whoop of an Indian,
instantly followed by several others.
Immediately he recalled the warning given by the trapper, and looked
furtively about, to make sure that he was not already in their hands.
His great anxiety now was to reach the steam man and leave the
neighborhood, which was rapidly becoming untenable.
So he began stealing forward as rapidly as possible, at the same time
keeping a sharp lookout for danger. It required a half-hour,
proceeding at this rate, before reaching the base of the mountain. The
moment he did so, he looked all around in quest of the steam man, whom
he had been compelled to desert for so long a time.
He discovered it standing several hundred yards away; but, to his
dismay, there were fully a dozen Indians standing and walking about
it, examining every portion with the greatest curiosity.
Here was a dilemma indeed, and the boy began to believe that he had
gotten himself into an inextricable difficulty, for how to reach the
steam man and renew the fire, under the circumstances, was a question
which might well puzzle an older head to answer.
It was unfortunate that the machine should have been taken at this
great disadvantage, for it was stripping it of its terror to those
Indians, who were such inveterate enemies to the whites. They had
probably viewed it with wonder and fear at first; but finding it
undemonstrative, had gradually gathered courage, until they had
congregated around it, and made as critical a scrutiny as they know
how.
Whatever fear or terror they had felt at first sight was now gone; for
they seemed on the most familiar terms with it.
Several climbed into the wagon, others passed in and around the helpless
giant, and one valiant follow bit him a thwack on the stomach with his
tomahawk.
This blow hurt the boy far more than it did the iron man, and he could
hardly repress a cry of pain, as he looked upon the destruction of his
wonderful friend as almost inevitable.
The savage, however, contented himself with this demonstration, and
immediately after walked away toward the mountain. The observant boy
knew what this meant, and he withdrew from his temporary hiding-place,
and started to watch him.
The fact that the Indian followed precisely the path taken by him, did
not remove the uneasiness, and he made up his mind that nothing but
danger was to come to him from this proceeding.
When the Indian had reached the spot where the dead grizzly bear lay,
he paused in the greatest wonderment. Here was something which he did
not understand.
The dead carcass showed that somebody had slain him, and the shot in
the eye looked as though it had been done by an experienced hunter. A
few minutes' examination of the ground showed further that he who had
fired the shot was in the tree at the time, after which he had
descended and fled.
All this took but a few minutes for the savage to discover, when he
gave a whoop of triumph at his success in probing the matter, and
started off on the trail.
Unluckily, this led straight toward the bowlder behind which the boy
had concealed himself; and ere he could find a new hiding-place the
Indian was upon him.
At sight of the boy, the savage gave a whoop, and raised his tomahawk;
but the youngster was expecting this, and instantly raising his gun,
he discharged it full into his heart.
As he heard the shriek of the Indian, and saw him throw up his arms,
he did not wait to bear or see anything else, but instantly fled with
might and main, scarcely looking or knowing whither he was going.
A short time after he found himself at the base of the mountain, very
near the spot where he had first come, and glancing again toward the
steam man, he saw him standing motion less, as before, and with not a
single Indian in sight!