TED MEETS MR. BRUIN
IT seemed to Ted as if he had scarcely touched the pillow on the nights
which followed before it was daylight, and he would awake to find the
sun streaming in at his tent flap. He always meant to go fishing with
Kalitan before breakfast, so the moment he woke up he jumped out of bed,
if his pile of fragrant pine boughs covered with skins could be called a
bed, and hurried through his toilet. Quick as he tried to be, however,
he was never ready before Kalitan, for, when Ted appeared, the Indian
boy had always had his roll in the snow and was preparing his lines.
Kalitan was perfectly fascinated with the American boy. He thought him
the most wonderful specimen of a boy that he had ever seen. He knew so
much that Kalitan did not, and talked so brightly that being with Ted
was to the Indian like having a book without the bother of reading.
There were some things about him that Kalitan could not understand, to
be sure. Ted talked to his father just as if he were another boy. He
even spoke to Tyee Klake on occasions when that august personage had not
only not asked him a question, but was not speaking at all. From the
Thlinkit point of view, this was a most remarkable performance on Ted's
part, but Kalitan thought it must be all right for a "Boston boy," for
even the stern old chief seemed to regard happy-go-lucky Ted with
approval.
Ted, on the other hand, thought Kalitan the most remarkable boy he had
ever met in all his life. He had not been much with boys. His "Lady
Mother," as he always called the gentle, brown-eyed being who ruled his
father and himself, had not cared to have her little Galahad mingle
with the rougher city boys who thronged the streets, and had kept him
with herself a great deal. Ted had loved books, and he and his little
sister Judith had lived in a pleasant atmosphere of refinement, playing
happily together until the boy had grown almost to dread anything common
or low. His mother knew he had moral courage, and would face any issue
pluckily, but his father feared he would grow up a milksop, and thought
he needed hardening.
Mrs. Strong objected to the hardening process if it consisted in turning
her boy loose to learn the ways of the city streets, but had consented
to his going with his father, urged thereto by fears for his health,
which was not of the best, and the knowledge that he had reached the
"bear and Indian" age, and it was certainly a good thing for him to have
his experiences first-hand.
To Ted the whole thing was perfectly delightful. When he lay down at
night, he would often like to see "Mother and Ju," but he was generally
so tired that he was asleep before he had time to think enough to be
really homesick. During the day there was too much doing to have any
thinking time, and, since he had met this boy friend, he thought of
little else but him and what they were to do next. The Tyee had assured
Mr. Strong that it was perfectly safe for the boys to go about together.
"Kalitan knows all the trails," he said. "He take care of white brother.
Anything come, call Chetwoof."
As Mr. Strong was very anxious to penetrate the glacier under Klake's
guidance, and wanted Ted to enjoy himself to the full, he left the boys
to themselves, the only stipulation being that they should not go on the
water without Chetwoof.
There seemed to be always something new to do. As the days grew warmer,
the ice broke in the river, and the boys tramped all over the country.
Ted learned to use the bow and arrow, and brought down many a bird for
supper, and proud he was when he served up for his father a wild duck,
shot, plucked, and cooked all by himself.
They fished in the stream by day and set lines by night. They trapped
rabbits and hares in the woods, and one day even got a silver fox, a
skin greatly prized by the fur traders on account of its rarity. Kalitan
insisted that Ted should have it, though he could have gotten forty
dollars for it from a white trader, and Ted was rejoiced at the idea of
taking it home to make a set of furs for Judith.
One day Ted had a strange experience, and not a very pleasant one, which
might have been very serious had it not been for Kalitan. He had noticed
a queer-looking plant on the river-bank the day before, and had stopped
to pick it up, when he received such a sudden and unexpected pricking
as to cause him to jump back and shout for Kalitan. His hand felt as if
it had been pierced by a thousand needles, and he flew to a snow-bank to
rub it with snow.
"I must have gotten hold of some kind of a cactus," he said to Kalitan,
who only replied:
"Huh! picked hedgehog," as he pointed to where Ted's cactus was ambling
indignantly away with every quill rattling and set straight out in anger
at having his morning nap disturbed. Kalitan wrapped Ted's hand in soft
mud, which took the pain out, but he couldn't use it much for the next
few days, and did not feel eager to hunt when his father and the Tyee
started out in the morning. Kalitan remained with him, although his eyes
looked wistful, for he had heard the chief talk about bear tracks having
been seen the day before. Bears were quite a rarity, but sometimes an
old cinnamon or even a big black bruin would venture down in search of
fresh fish, which he would catch cleverly with his great paws.
Kalitan and Ted fished awhile, and then Ted wandered away a little,
wondering what lay around a point of rock which he had never yet
explored. Something lay there which he had by no means expected to see,
and he scarcely knew what to make of it. On the river-bank, close to the
edge of the stream, was a black figure, an Indian fishing, as he
supposed, and he paused to watch. The fisherman was covered with fur
from head to foot, and, as Ted watched him, he seemed to have no line or
rod. Going nearer, the boy grew even more puzzled, and, though the man's
back was toward him, he could easily see that there was something
unusual about the figure. Just as he was within hailing distance and
about to shout, the figure made a quick dive toward the water and sprang
back again with a fish between his paws, and Ted saw that it was a huge
bear. He gave a sharp cry and then stood stock-still. The creature
looked around and stood gnawing his fish and staring at Ted as stupidly
as the boy stared at him. Then Ted heard a halloo behind him and
Kalitan's voice:
"Run for Chetwoof, quick!"
Ted obeyed as the animal started to move off. He ran toward the camp,
hearing the report of Kalitan's gun as he ran. Chetwoof, hearing the
noise, hurried out, and it was but a few moments before he was at
Kalitan's side. To Ted it seemed like a day before he could get back and
see what was happening, but he arrived on the scene in time to see
Chetwoof despatch the animal.
"Hurrah!" cried Ted. "You've killed a bear," but Chetwoof only grunted
crossly.
"Very bad luck!" he said, and Kalitan explained:
"Indians don't like to kill bears or ravens. Spirits in them, maybe
ancestors."
Ted looked at him in great astonishment, but Kalitan explained:
"Once, long ago, a Thlinkit girl laughed at a bear track in the snow and
said: 'Ugly animal must have made that track!' But a bear heard and was
angry. He seized the maiden and bore her to his den, and turned her into
a bear, and she dwelt with him, until one day her brother killed the
bear and she was freed. And from that day Thlinkits speak respectfully
of bears, and do not try to kill them, for they know not whether it is a
bear or a friend who hides within the shaggy skin."
The Tyee and Mr. Strong were greatly surprised when they came home to
see the huge carcass of Mr. Bruin, and they listened to the account of
Kalitan's bravery. The old chief said little, but he looked approvingly
at Kalitan, and said "Hyas kloshe" (very good), which unwonted praise
made the boy's face glow with pleasure. They had a great discussion as
to whom the bear really belonged. Ted had found him, Kalitan had shot
him first, and Chetwoof had killed him, so they decided to go shares.
Ted wanted the skin to take home, and thought it would make a splendid
rug for his mother's library, so his father paid Kalitan and Chetwoof
what each would have received as their share had the skin been sold to a
trader, and they all had bear meat for supper. Ted thought it finer than
any beefsteak he had ever eaten, and over it Kalitan smacked his lips
audibly.