"Now, there were some circumstances to be considered, before we could
proceed any farther in the matter of the bees. How were we to get at
the honey? `Why, by felling the tree, and splitting it open, of
course,' you will say. Well, that would have to be done, too; but there
was still another consideration. It is no very difficult matter to fell
a tree, and split it up--that is, when one has a good axe--but it is a
very different affair to take the honey-combs from some eight or ten
thousand bees, every one of them with a sharp sting in his tail. We had
no brimstone; and if we had had such a thing, they were well out of the
reach of it, while the tree stood; and after it should be felled, we
could not approach them. They would then be furious to a certainty.
"But Cudjo's knowledge of bee-hunting extended farther than to the mere
finding of the tree. He knew, also, how to _humbug_ the bees, and rob
them of their sweet honey. That was a part of the performance that
Cudjo understood as well as any other. According to his directions,
then, two pairs of stout buckskin gloves were prepared. We chanced to
have one pair already, and Mary soon stitched up a second, of the kind
generally used for weeding thistles--that is, having only a thumb, and a
place for all the fingers together. One pair of the gloves Cudjo
intended to use himself--the other was for me. Of course, the rest were
to take no part in the robbery, but only to stand at a safe distance and
look on.
"In addition to the gloves, a couple of masks were cut out of elk-hide,
and with strings fitted to our faces. These, with our thick deerskin
overcoats, would protect us against the stings of all the bees in
creation.
"Thus accoutred, then, or rather taking these articles along with us, we
set out for the bee-tree. Of course, everybody went as usual. We took
with us the axe to cut down the tree, and several vessels to hold the
honey.
"On arriving at the glade, we loosed Pompo out of the cart; and picketed
him as we had done the day before. It would not do to bring him any
nearer the scene of action, as the bees might take a fancy to revenge
themselves by stinging him. We then took our `fixings' from the cart,
and proceeded to the tree. In a few moments we stood by its foot.
"On looking up we observed that there was an unusual commotion among the
bees. They were whirring in large numbers around the entrance of their
nest, and swarming out and in. As the day was very still, we could hear
them buzzing loudly. What could it mean? Were they going to hive?
"Cudjo thought not. It was too early in the season for that. And yet
their actions were strange. He could not understand it.
"`Dey look, Massa,' said he, after gazing at them for some moments, `dey
look zackly like some varmint war a-vexin' ob 'em.'
"So did they, but no `varmint' appeared to be near their hole; and no
animal, however thick in the skin, would have ventured into it, as we
thought. The orifice was not over three inches in diameter, and we knew
that neither squirrel, marten, nor weasel, would have dared to put a
nose into it. What, then, could have so excited them?
"We observed that it was a warm day--the warmest we had had up to that
time--and, probably, the beat had set them a-going. With this
explanation, therefore, in the absence of a better, we remained
satisfied; and commenced making our preparations to fell the tree.
"It was not likely to be a difficult job. The tree, as I have said, was
a hollow one; and near the ground its trunk was nothing but a mere
shell, which we could easily cut through. So Cudjo went lustily to work
with his axe; and the white sycamore chips were soon flying in every
direction.
"He had hardly made a dozen strokes, when we were startled by a singular
noise, that sounded something like a `cross' between a growl and a
snort!
"Cudjo immediately suspended his blows; and we all stood gazing at each
other with looks that betokened surprise and terror. I say _terror_--
for the noise had something terrible in it; and we knew it could have
proceeded from nothing else than some large and fierce animal. Whence
did it come?--from the woods? We looked anxiously around us, but no
motion could be observed in the bramble. The underwood was thin, and we
could have seen a large animal at some distance, had such been there.
"Again the horrid sound echoed in our ears. It appeared to issue out of
the earth! No--_it came out of the tree_!
"`Golly!' exclaimed Cudjo, `it am a bar, Massa Roff! I know him growl.'
"`A bear!' I ejaculated, catching the thought at the same moment. `A
bear in the bee-tree! Run, Mary! Run for the glade!'--and I hurried my
wife and children from the spot. Harry and Frank both wished to remain
with their rifles, and I could hardly get them off. I induced them to
go, at length, by telling them that they must stay near their mother and
the little ones, to guard them in case the animal should come that way.
All this occupied but a few seconds of time, and then Cudjo and I were
left to ourselves.
"It was evident that a bear was up the hollow of the tree, and hence the
flurry among the bees. Cudjo's axe had disturbed him--he was coming
down!
"What was to be done? Could we not close up the hole? No--there was
nothing--we should be too late!
"I seized my rifle, while Cudjo stood by with his axe. I cocked the
piece, and made ready to fire the moment his head should appear. To our
astonishment, instead of a head, a shapeless mass of shaggy, black hair
made its appearance, which we saw was the rump and hind-quarters of the
animal. He was coming down tail-foremost--although not a bit of tail
was to be seen, for he had none.
"We did not stop to examine that. I fired as soon as his hips made
their appearance, and almost at the same instant Cudjo dealt them a
hearty blow with his axe. It was enough to have killed him, as we
thought, but to our surprise the hind-quarters suddenly disappeared. He
had gone up the tree again.
"What next?--would he turn himself in the hollow, and come down
head-foremost? If so, my rifle was empty, and Cudjo might miss his
blow, and let him pass out.
"All at once my eye fell upon the two great deerskin coats, that were
lying on the ground close by. They would be large enough, properly
rolled, to fill the mouth of the cavity. I threw aside my rifle, and
laid hold of them. Cudjo assisted me. In a second or two, we had
gathered them into a hard `clump,' and wedged them into the hole. They
fitted it exactly!
"We saw blood streaming down as we stuffed in the coats. The bear was
wounded. It was not likely, then, that he would trouble us for a while;
and as one watched the coats, the other brought up great stones, which
we piled against them, until we had made all secure.
"We now ran around the tree, looking up the trunk, to assure ourselves
that there was no opening above, through which he might creep out and
come down upon us. No--there was none, except the bee-hole, and that
was not big enough for his nose, sharp as it was. Bruin was fairly `in
the trap.'
"I knew that Mary and the rest would be uneasy about us; and I ran out
to the glade to make known our success. The boys cheered loudly; and we
all returned together to the tree, as there was now no danger--no more
than if there hadn't been a bear nearer to us than the North Pole.
"We had him safe, so that there was no fear of his escaping. But how
were we to get at him?--for we had determined to take his life. Such a
fierce creature as this must not be allowed to get off; as he would soon
have settled with one of us, had he met us on anything like equal terms.
I had thought, at first, he might be a grizzly bear, and this had
terrified me the more--for the killing of one of these fierce animals
with a shot is next to an impossibility. When I reflected, however, I
knew it could not be this; for the `grizzly,' unlike his sable cousin,
is not a tree-climber. It was the black bear, then, that we had got in
the tree.
"But how were we to reach him? Leave him where he was, and let him
starve to death? No, that would never do. He would eat all the fine
stock of honey; if, indeed, he had not done so already. Moreover, he
might scrape his way out, by enlarging the bee-hole. This he could do
with his great sharp claws. We must therefore adopt some other plan.
"It occurred to us that it was just probable he might be down at the
bottom, poking his nose against the coats. We could not tell, for there
was no longer any growling. He was either too angry, or too badly
scared to growl--we could not say which. At all events, he was not
uttering a sound. He might, nevertheless, be as close to us at the
moment as he could get. If so, our plan would be to cut a small hole in
the tree above him, so that we might reach him with a bullet from the
rifle. This plan was adopted, and Cudjo set to work to make the hole.
"In a few minutes the thin shell was penetrated, and we could see into
the cavity. Bruin was nowhere visible--he was still up the tree. The
`taste of our quality,' which he had had on his first descent, had
evidently robbed him of all inclination to try a second. What next?
"`Smoke 'im!' cried Cudjo; `dat fotch 'im down.'
"The very thing: but how were we to do it? By pushing dead leaves and
grass through the hole Cudjo had cut, and then setting them on fire.
But our coats--they might be burned! These we could first remove,
putting great stones in their place; and we proceeded to do so. In a
few minutes that was accomplished: the grass and leaves were staffed in;
some tufts were set on fire and thrust through; more rubbish was piled
on top, until it reached up on a level with the hole; and then the hole
was closed with a bundle of grass, so as to prevent the smoke from
escaping.
"In a few moments we saw that everything was progressing as we had
intended it. A blue rope of smoke came oozing out of the bee-hole, and
the terrified bees swarmed out in clusters. We had not thought of this
before, else we might have saved ourselves the trouble of making the
gloves and masks.
"Bruin soon began to give tongue. We could hear him high up the tree
snarling and growling fiercely. Every now and then he uttered a loud
snort, that sounded like an asthmatic cough. After a while his growls
changed into a whine, then a hideous moan, and then the sounds ceased
altogether. The next moment we heard a dull concussion, as of a heavy
body falling to the earth. We knew it was the bear, as he tumbled from
his perch.
"We waited for some minutes. There was no longer any stir--no sound
issued from the tree. We removed the grass from the upper hole. A
thick volume of smoke rolled out. The bear must be dead. No creature
could live in such an atmosphere. I introduced my ramrod through the
opening. I could feel the soft hairy body of the animal, but it was
limber and motionless. It was dead. Feeling convinced of this, at
length, we removed the rocks below, and dragged it forth. Yes, the bear
was dead,--or, at all events, very like it; but, to make the thing sure,
Cudjo gave him a knock on the head with his axe. His long, shaggy hair
was literally filled with dead and dying bees, that, like himself, had
been suffocated with the smoke, and had fallen from their combs.
"We had hardly settled the question of the bear, when our attention was
called to another circumstance, which was likely to trouble us. We
perceived that the tree was on fire. The decayed heart-wood that lined
the cavity inside had caught fire from the blazing grass, and was now
crackling away like fury. Our honey would be lost!
"This was a grievous _finale_, after all--in short, a complete
disappointment to our hopes, for we had calculated on having honey on
our table at supper.
"What could we do to save it? But one thing, that was evident:--cut
down the tree as quickly as possible, and then cut it through again
between the fire and the bees' nest.
"Should we have time for all this? The fire was already high up; and
the draught, since we had opened the holes below, whizzed up the cavity
as through a funnel.
"Seeing this, we closed them again; and Cudjo went to work with his axe,
cutting all around the tree. And the way he did ply that axe! he seemed
to have a wager against time. It was beautiful to see the style in
which the chips flew!
"At length the tree began to crack, and we all stood out from it, except
Cudjo, who understood which way it would fall, and was not afraid of
being crushed. Not he! for Cudjo could `lay' a tree wherever it was
wanted to the breadth of a hair.
"`Cr-r-r-ack!--cr-r-r-r-ash!' said the great sycamore, and down it came,
shivering its branches into an hundred sticks as it fell.
"It had scarcely touched the ground, when we saw Cudjo attack it at
another point with his axe, as though it were some great monster, and he
trying to cut off its head.
"In a few minutes more he had laid open the cavity, close to the combs;
and, to our great satisfaction, we saw that the fire had not yet reached
them. They were well smoked, however, and completely deserted by the
bees; so that we used neither our masks nor gloves in gathering the
honey. Bruin had been before us, but he had not been long at his meal
when we intruded upon him, as only one or two of the combs were missing.
Enough was left. It was evidently a very old hive, and there was honey
enough to fill all the vessels we had brought with us.
"We bundled the bear into the cart--as his hams and skin were worth the
trouble--and leaving the old sycamore to burn out, we turned our faces
homeward."