"LOOK!"
I can't describe my feelings towards Gunson. One hour he seemed to me
coarse, brutal, and common; at another he was the very reverse, and
spoke in conversation as we tramped along together about books and
languages in a way which made me think that at one time he must have
been a gentleman. At these moments his voice sounded soft and pleasant,
and he quite won me to him.
On the morning after our perilous passage through the gorge, he quite
took me into his confidence, talking to me and consulting with me as if
I were a man of his own age, while Esau hung aloof looking jealous and
answering in a surly way whenever he was addressed.
"You see," Gunson said, "the matter stands like this: along by the
river, which is getting more and more to assume the character of a
mountain torrent, the way must be difficult. It winds, too, terribly,
so that we have to travel perhaps twice as far as we should if we made a
straight cut for the Fort."
"That sounds the easiest way," I said.
"Yes; but we do not know the country; we have not the least idea where
Fort Elk lies; we shall be met now and then by other rivers, which may
be very hard to cross, perhaps impossible without making long journeys
to right or left; lastly, we shall get into a wild country where
probably there will be no Indians, or if there are, they may be a fierce
hunting race, who will object to our going through their district. So
you see that though we may save a good deal of walking if we can get an
idea from some settler where the Fort lies, we may meet with a great
many difficulties such as I have named. On the other hand, if we keep
tramping on here, we are certain to hit the Fort if we can master the
troubles of the way, while we are among a people who seem to live by
fishing, and are as friendly as can be."
"Yes," I said, thoughtfully, as I glanced at where the Indians were
peaceably catching and drying the fish they speared.
"Well, what do you say? I am ready to do either--perhaps to break away
from the river would suit me best, for I should be coming across smaller
streams such as I could examine for metals. You must not forget that
I'm a prospector," he added, laughingly.
"I do not," I said, "and I should like for you to go the way best suited
for yourself. But surely you could find that way, and reach Fort Elk."
"I am disposed to risk it, and yet we should be turning away from our
supplies."
"Yes," I said, for he looked at me questioningly; "I feel quite in
despair sometimes about getting along this terrible way, but I think we
ought to keep to it, for those people said we should find little
settlements all the way along."
"Yes; and we might find ourselves in a queer position without food
unless we could get a guide, so forward's the word."
He nodded to me and went off to the Indian camp to make the people a
present before we started, and as soon as I was alone, Esau hurried up.
"Has he been saying anything against me?"
"No, of course not, you suspicious fellow," I cried. "There, come along
and pack up. We start directly. I say, Esau, you don't want to go back
now?"
He turned sharply, and glanced at the beginning of the dark canon, and
then said angrily--
"Needn't jump on a fellow because he didn't get along so well as you
did. Here you, Quong, we're going on."
"Velly nea leady," came back cheerily.
"Don't seem to mind a bit," grumbled Esau. "I believe he'd go anywhere.
He don't understand what danger is."
"Ready?" said Gunson, coming back. "I can't make anything out of the
Indians, but I suppose there is a way all along here."
"Those settlers said there was."
"Then let's try it if we can find our way. We can't come upon a worse
bit to go along than that yesterday, and if we can't get along we must
come back."
We were on our way again directly after, Quong's load made more heavy by
the addition of two goodly fish, an addition which did not trouble him
in the least, for he showed them to me smiling and patting their rounded
silvery sides as if he had an affection for them.
Our way was very difficult, the traces of a trail being very few, and
faintly marked. But in spite of the difficulties, we kept on steadily
all through that day, and with no worse adventures than a few falls,
with the accompaniments of bruises and scratches, we reached the patch
of wood we selected for our resting-place that night.
It was Quong, when in advance, who suggested it, by stopping suddenly,
lowering his patiently borne load, and pointing out its advantages of
shelter, fire-wood and water, and here we stayed for the night.
The next day passed in a similar way, and the effect on me of our
journey seemed precisely the same as on Esau and the others--for we
reached our resting-place fagged, hungry, faint and low-spirited, with
Esau grumbling horribly and wishing he was back on "old Dempster's"
stool. Then Quong would prepare his fire, make cakes, boil the kettle,
cook bacon or salmon, make a good cup of tea, and we all ate a
tremendous meal, after which the beds were made in shelter, probably
under the tree which produced what Esau called the feathers, that is the
soft boughs. Then our blankets were spread ready, and we lay about
watching the last rays of the sunlight on the snowy peaks of the
mountains, or the bright stars, and listened to Gunson while he smoked
his pipe and told us tales about his adventures in the Malay
Archipelago, where he went up the country in search of gold, or in
Australia; and as we sat listening, the weary low-spirited feeling
passed away, we grew deeply interested, and soon after lay down to
sleep, to wake at sunrise full of high spirits, life, and vigour, eager
to continue our journey up the river.
Then came days when we halted at settlers' huts, where we were made very
welcome for the sake of the news we brought; then at Indian camps to be
regaled with fish, and finding these people so friendly that we soon
forgot to feel any fear of them. Then again we went up a side stream
here and there for a few miles, to enable Gunson to try and discover
metals, and though he was always disappointed, Quong was in ecstasies.
"Why, he must have got enough gold in that bottle of his to make a
wedding-ring as big as mother's old thin one," said Esau, with a
chuckle. "I say, don't take much to make him happy."
And all this time the weather had been lovely. We had had a few
showers, after which the sun shone out more brightly than ever, and one
night we had a tremendous thunderstorm, when, from our shelter under a
ledge of rock, we could see the flashes of lightning darting in every
direction, while the thunder rolled echoing along the valley. But that
soon passed away, the stars came out as the clouds rolled off the sky,
and the next day all was as beautiful as ever.
Three nights after we came to a halt at the mouth of a shallow cave, and
the day having been very hot and wearying we soon dropped off to sleep,
from which I was aroused in the darkness by feeling a touch, and as I
opened my eyes, I heard a curious shuffling noise, and felt hot breath
fan my cheek.
This was so momentary that I thought I must have been dreaming, and
turned softly over to go to sleep again, for the rest after the heavy
day's work was delicious.
I suppose I must have dropped off once more, and must have been dreaming
as I was touched again; then the touch was repeated, and in a drowsy way
I sighed with satisfaction at not having to move myself, but having some
one to move me, for a great hand readied over me, and drew me along a
little way, and I dreamed that I was tumbling out of bed and Esau drew
me back in my place.
I lay perfectly still for a time, and then I was moved a little more,
the big hand drawing me along very gently as if I was not quite in the
right position; finally, after getting me straight, giving me a gentle
thrust before leaving me quite at peace. All at once I was thoroughly
aroused by a terrific yell, and I started up, but only to be knocked
over. There was a rush of feet, followed by a rustling, and crackling
of bushes, and this sound grew fainter and fainter till it died away.
"What is it? Who shouted?" cried Gunson, jumping up.
"It was me," cried Esau.
"What for? Who was it ran away? Here; where is Gordon?"
"I'm here," I said. "What's the matter?"
"That's what I want to know," said Gunson. "Was it an Indian, Dean?"
"No; it was a great pig as big as a bullock; he'd got one hoof on my
chest, and was smelling me with his wet snout touching my face when I
woke up and shouted, and he ran off."
"Pig, eh?" said Gunson. "It must have been a bear."
"A bear! What, touching me like that?" cried Esau, excitedly.
"No doubt about it. But it does not matter. You frightened it more
than it frightened you, and it has gone."
"Ugh!" cried Esau, with a shudder. "Was it going to eat me?"
"Probably," replied Gunson.
"What!"
"Well, it might have been. You are not bitten?"
"I dunno," cried Esau, excitedly. "P'r'aps I am."
"Are you scratched or clawed?"
"Can't say, sir; very likely. Oh dear, oh dear, what a place to come
to! I can't go to sleep again after this. But do you really think it
was a pig, sir--I mean a bear?"
"It must have been. The only other creature possible would be a bison
or a deer, and it is not likely to have been one of them."
Gunson took his rifle, and I heard the click of the lock as he cocked
it, to step out of the shelter, and look round, but he stopped directly.
"Where is Quong?" he cried.
"Me velly safe up here," came in a high-pitched voice from somewhere
over our heads in the darkness.
"Did you see anything?" cried Gunson. "Was it a bear?"
"Too dalk see anything," he replied. "Only hear velly much wood
bleaking."
All was quite still now, save Gunson's footsteps as he walked about our
camp, and the roar of the falling waters down toward the river where the
stream near us dropped in a cascade; and he was soon back.
"I shall break my neck in the darkness," he said, as he joined us. "I
can hear nothing, and I have nearly gone headlong twice."
"Do you think it will come back?" I said, feeling no little
trepidation.
"No; Dean's yell was enough to scare a whole zoological garden. But lie
down, lads, and finish your night's rest. I'll light my pipe and play
sentry for the remainder of the night."
"And I'll sit up with you," I said.
"No; go to sleep," he replied, firmly. "I am used to this sort of
thing."
"But I want to get used to it," I said.
"Afraid?"
This came with a slightly sarcastic tone, which made me turn away from
him, and go back into the shelter without a word.
"Come, Esau," I said; and I wrapped my blanket round me, and lay down at
once.
"It's all very well to say `Come, Esau,'" grumbled that gentleman. "You
ain't been half torn to pieces by a bear."
"But you are not hurt, are you?"
"How do I know when it's so dark?" he said, petulantly.
"But you could feel."
"No, I couldn't. I've heard that people who have been half killed don't
feel any pain at first; and there ain't a doctor nowhere."
"But, Esau," I whispered, seriously, "has the brute hurt you?"
"I keep on telling you I don't know. He pawed me about and turned me
over, and smelt me and stood on me once. I say: how dark it is!"
"Lie down," I said, "and try and go to sleep. I don't think you can be
hurt, or you would feel some pain. I felt the bear touch me too, but I
am not scratched."
"Must I lie down?"
"Yes; you would be better."
"But suppose he came again?"
"Gunson is watching. There is no fear."
"But I'm sure I can't sleep. It's too horrid to be woke up and find
wild beasts swarming all over you."
"Yes, it was startling," I said, as I listened to the noise he made
rolling himself in his blanket, and making the fir-boughs crackle as he
turned about. "I was horribly scared at first, but I don't think I mind
now."
"I do," said Esau, with a groan, "and I never pretended to be as brave
as you. It's of no use, I can't go to sleep."
"Why, you haven't tried yet," I said, as I began to feel satisfied that
his injuries were all fancy.
"No use to try," he said, gloomily. "Fellow can't go to sleep expecting
every moment to be seized by some savage thing and torn to bits."
"Nonsense!" I said. "Don't make so much fuss."
"That's right; jump on me. You don't behave half so well to me as I do
to you, Mayne Gordon."
I made no reply to this reproach, but lay gazing out into the gloom,
where after a few minutes I heard a faint scratch, saw a line of light,
and then the blaze of a match sheltered in Gunson's hands, and a flash
made as he lit his pipe and threw the match away, after which at regular
intervals I saw the dull glow of the tobacco in the bowl as our sentry
kept patient watch over us.
"Esau," I said at last, "do you feel any pain?"
There was no reply.
"Esau, can you feel anything now?" I said.
Still no reply, and I began to be startled there in that intense
darkness where it took so little to excite one's imagination. Had he
after all been seriously hurt by the bear, and now sunk into a state of
insensibility?
"Esau!" I whispered again, but still there was no reply; so half rising
I reached over to touch his face, which was comfortably warm, and I
heard now his regular hard breathing. For a few minutes I could not
feel satisfied, but by degrees I grew convinced Esau was sleeping
heavily, and at last I lay down too, and dropped off soundly asleep as
he. How long I had been in the land of dreams I did not know till next
day, when I found from Gunson that it must have been about a couple of
hours, and then I awoke with a start, and the idea that the bear had
come back and seized me, till the voice of our companion bidding me get
up relieved me of that dread.
"What is the matter?"
"Look," he cried.
I was already looking at a blaze of light, and listening to a fierce
crackling noise. There before me was one of the great pine-trees with
the lower part burning, and clouds of smoke rolling up. "But how--what
was it set it on fire?"
"Ask Quong," said Gunson gruffly, as he stood by me with the glow from
the fire lighting him up from top to toe, and bringing the trees and
rocks about us into view.
"Me only put fire light when bear go, leady for make water velly hot,"
said the little Chinaman, dolefully; "fire lun along and set alight."
"Yes, you couldn't help it," said Gunson. "The dry fir-needles must
have caught, and gone on smouldering till they reached a branch which
touched the ground, and then the fire ran along it like a flash."
"But can't we put it out?" I cried, excitedly, as the boughs of the
huge green pyramid began to catch one after the other.
"Put it out!" he said, with a half laugh. "Yes; send Dean there for the
nearest fire-engine. There's plenty of water. I did try at first while
you were asleep, and burned myself."
"But--"
"Oh, let it burn," he said, carelessly. "It stands alone, and a tree
more or less does not signify in these regions. A hundred more will
spring up from the ashes."
I stood silently gazing at the wondrous sight, as the huge fire began
more and more to resemble a cone of flame. High up above the smoke
which rolled like clouds of gold, and the tongues of fire which kept
leaping up and up to the high branches, there was still a green spire
dark and dimly seen as it rose to some two hundred and fifty feet above
where we stood. But that upper portion was catching alight fast now,
and the hissing crackle of the burning was accompanied by sharp reports
and flashes, the heat growing so intense that one had to back away,
while quite a sharp current of cold air began to rush past our ears to
sweep out and fan the flames.
"What a pity!" I said at last, as I turned to Esau, who stood there
with his eyes glowing in the light, Quong being seated on a stone
holding his knees, as he crouched together, his yellow forehead
wrinkled, and little black eyes sparkling the while.
"Yes, I s'pose it's a pity," said Esau, thoughtfully. "My! how it
burns. I s'pose there's tar and turpentine and rosin in that big tree?"
"Why, Esau," I said suddenly, as a thought struck me, "how about the
bear?"
"Bear? Where?" he cried, grasping my arm. "Not here," I said with a
laugh. "No wild beast would come near that fire. I mean how about your
hurts?"
"My hurts?" he said, beginning to feel his arms. "Oh, I'd forgotten all
about them."
"No fear of its catching any other tree," said Gunson, returning to
where we stood after being away, though I had not missed him. "I've
been all round it, and there isn't another for twenty yards."
"But it will set light to them when it falls," I said.
"No, my lad. That tree's enormous at the bottom, but the boughs grow
smaller and smaller till the top is like a point. Look, the fire is
reaching it now, and it will go on burning till the trunk stands up half
burned down, and then gradually go out, leaving a great pointed stick of
charred wood. No fear of its falling either upon us. I should have
been sorry for us to have started a forest fire, that might have burned
for weeks."
He ceased speaking, and we all stood gazing in awe at the magnificent
spectacle as the flames rushed higher and higher, till from top to
bottom there before us was a magnificent cone of roaring fire, which
fluttered and scintillated, and sent up golden clouds of tiny sparks far
away into the air, while a thin canopy of smoke spread over us, and
reflected back the glow till the valley far around looked almost as
light as day, and the green pines stood out gilded, though sombre in
their shades, and the water flashed and sparkled where it rushed along.
It was a wonderful sight, impressing even Quong, and for a long time no
one spoke.
It was Gunson who broke the silence.
"Well, Quong," he cried, "what do you think of your work?"
"Velly solly," said the little fellow, dolefully.
"Ah," said Gunson, "it is a bad job. All the King of China's horses and
men could not build that up again--eh, Gordon?"
"No," I said, sadly; for there seemed to me to be something pitiful in
that grand forest monarch, at whose feet we had supped the past night,
being destroyed.
"But one of the seeds out of a cone hidden under the ground will produce
another," he said, "in a hundred or two years. And we shan't wait to
see it, Gordon."