The Boy Hunters by Mayne Reid (golden son ebook .TXT) 📗
- Author: Mayne Reid
Book online «The Boy Hunters by Mayne Reid (golden son ebook .TXT) 📗». Author Mayne Reid
“A she-bear and her cubs!” exclaimed François; “but see!” he continued, “she is red, while the cubs are jet-black!”
Basil did not stop for any observation of that kind. He had sprung to his feet and levelled his rifle, the moment he saw what the animal was.
“For your life do not fire!” cried Lucien. “It may be a grizzly bear!”
His advice came too late. The crack of Basil’s rifle was heard; and the bear dropping upon all fours, danced over the ground shaking her head and snorting furiously. The light had deceived Basil; and instead of hitting her in the head as he had intended, his bullet glanced from her snout, doing her but little harm. Now, the snout of a bear is its most precious and tender organ, and a blow upon that will rouse even the most timid species of them to fury. So it was with this one. She saw whence the shot came; and, as soon as she had given her head a few shakes, she came in a shuffling gallop towards the boys.
Basil now saw how rashly he had acted, but there was no time for expressing regrets. There was not even time for them to get to their horses. Before they could reach these and draw the pickets, the bear would overtake them. Some one of them would become a victim.
“Take to the trees!” shouted Lucien; “if it be a grizzly bear, she cannot climb.”
As Lucien said this, he levelled his short rifle and fired at the advancing animal. The bullet seemed to strike her on the flank, as she turned with a growl and bit the part. This delayed her for a moment, and allowed Lucien time to swing himself to a tree. Basil had thrown away his rifle, not having time to reload. François, when he saw the great monster so near, dropped his gun without firing.
All three in their haste climbed separate trees. It was a grove of white oaks, as we have already stated; and these trees, unlike the pines, or magnolias, or cypress-trees, have usually great limbs growing low down and spreading out horizontally. These limbs are often as many feet in length as the tree itself is in height.
It was upon these that they had climbed—Basil having taken to that one under which they had slept, and which was much larger than the others around. At the foot of this tree the bear stopped. The robes and blankets drew her attention for the moment. She tossed them over with her great paws, and then left them, and walked round the trunk, looking upward, at intervals uttering loud “sniffs,” that sounded like the “’scape” of a steam-pipe. By this time Basil had reached the third or fourth branch from the ground. He might have gone much higher; but, from what Lucien had suggested, he believed the animal to be a grizzly bear. Her colour, which was of a fern or fulvous brown, confirmed him in that belief—as he knew that grizzly bears are met with of a great variety of colours. He had nothing to fear then, even on the lowest branch, and he thought it was no use going higher. So he stopped and looked down. He had a good view of the animal below; and to his consternation he saw at a glance that it was not a grizzly, but a different species. Her shape, as well as general appearance, convinced him it was the “cinnamon” bear—a variety of the black, and one of the best tree-climbers of the kind. This was soon put beyond dispute, as Basil saw the animal throw her great paws around the trunk, and commence crawling upward!
It was a fearful moment. Lucien and François both leaped back to the ground, uttering shouts of warning and despair. François picked up his gun, and without hesitating a moment ran to the foot of the tree, and fired both barrels into the hips of the bear. The small shot hardly could have penetrated her thick shaggy hide. It only served to irritate her afresh, causing her to growl fiercely; and she paused for some moments, as if considering whether she would descend and punish the “enemy in the rear,” or keep on after Basil. The rattling of the latter among the branches above decided her, and on she crawled upward.
Basil was almost as active among the branches of a tree as a squirrel or a monkey. When about sixty feet from the ground, he crawled out upon a long limb that grew horizontally. He chose this one, because he saw another growing above it, which he thought he might reach as soon as the bear followed him out upon the first; and by this means get back to the main trunk before the bear, and down to the ground again. After getting out upon the limb, however, he saw that he had miscalculated. The branch upon which he was, bending down under his weight, so widened the distance between it and the one above, that he could not reach the latter, even with the tips of his fingers. He turned to go back. To his horror the bear was at the other end in the fork, and preparing to follow him along the limb!
He could not go back without meeting the fierce brute in the teeth. There was no branch below within his reach, and none above, and he was fifty feet from the ground. To leap down appeared the only alternative to escape the clutches of the bear, and that alternative was certain death!
The bear advanced along the limb. François and Lucien screamed below, loading their pieces as rapidly as they could; but they feared they would be too late.
It was a terrible situation; but it was in such emergencies that the strong mind of Basil best displayed itself; and, instead of yielding to despair, he appeared cool and collected. His mind was busy examining every chance that offered.
All at once a thought struck him; and, obedient to its impulse, he called to his brothers below,—
“A rope! a rope! Fling me a rope! Haste! for heaven’s sake haste! a rope, or I am lost!”
Fortunately, there lay a rope under the tree. It was a raw-hide lasso, used in packing Jeanette. It lay by the spot where they had slept.
Lucien dropped his half-loaded rifle, and sprang towards it, coiling it as he took it up. Lucien could throw a lasso almost as well as Basil himself; and that was equal to a Mexican “vaquero” or a “gaucho” of the Pampas. He ran nearly under the limb, twirled the lasso around his head, and launched it upwards.
Basil, to gain time, had crept out upon the limb as far as it would bear him, while his fierce pursuer followed after. The branch, under their united weight, bent downward like a bow. Fortunately, it was oak, and did not break.
Basil was astride, his face turned to the tree and towards his pursuer. The long snout of the latter was within three feet of his head, and he could feel her warm breath, as with open jaws she stretched forward, snorting fiercely.
At this moment the ring-end of the lasso struck the branch directly between them, passing a few feet over it. Before it could slip back again, and fall off, the young hunter had grasped it; and with the dexterity of a packer, double-knotted it around the limb. The next moment, and just as the great claws of the bear were stretched forth to clutch him, he slipped off the branch, and glided down the lasso.
The rope did not reach the ground by at least twenty feet! It was a short one, and part of it had been taken up in the hasty knotting. Lucien and François, in consternation, had observed this from below, as soon as it first hung down. They had observed it, and prepared themselves accordingly; so that, when Basil reached the end of the rope, he saw his brothers standing below, and holding a large buffalo-skin stretched out between them. Into this he dropped; and the next moment stood upon the ground unhurt.
And now came the moment of triumph. The tough limb, that had been held retent by Basil’s weight, becoming so suddenly released, flew upward with a jerk.
The unexpected violence of that jerk was too much for the bear. Her hold gave way; she was shot into the air several feet upwards, and falling with a dull heavy sound to the earth, lay for a moment motionless! She was only stunned however, and would soon have struggled up again to renew the attack; but, before she could regain her feet, Basil had laid hold of François’ half-loaded gun; and, hurriedly pouring down a handful of bullets, ran forward and fired them into her head, killing her upon the spot!
The cubs by this time had arrived upon the ground, and Marengo, who had now partially recovered, by way of revenging himself for the castigation he had received from their mother, attacked them with fury. The little creatures fought fiercely; and, together, would have been more than a match for Marengo; but the rifles of his masters came to his assistance, and put an end to the contest.
All three—old bear and cubs—now lay stretched along the grass dead as may be. A rare-looking trio they were. The old one could not have weighed less than five hundred pounds. Her long, rough coat was of a fawn, or cinnamon colour, while the cubs were of a uniform black. This, however, is quite a common thing; and, what is still more singular, the cubs of the black bear are often seen of a reddish or cinnamon colour, while the mother herself is pure black. No doubt the cubs when full-grown change to the colour of their own species; but even at all ages bears of the same species are found varying in colour from difference of climate or other circumstances.
On the continent of North America, say the naturalists, but three species of bears are found, viz the “black,” the “polar,” and the “grizzly.” This is not certain, however, for the cinnamon bear, of which we have been speaking, is probably a species distinct from the black. If so, there are four kinds on that continent, and, perhaps, a fifth; as the brown bear of the Hudson’s Bay furriers, hitherto set down as a variety of the black, is more likely the Russian or brown bear of Europe. It may have reached the American continent by Kamschatka, where it is a common species.
The polar bear is found only in the snowy regions that border the Arctic Ocean; and never ranges above one hundred miles from the sea. The “grizzly,” for strength, courage, and ferocity, takes the first place among the bear family—outranking even his white cousin of the north. We shall have more to say of him by-and-bye. The black bear is our present subject; and as all that is known of the cinnamon variety goes to show that its habits are similar to those of the black, what is here said of the one may be considered applicable to both.
The black bear (Ursus Americanus) is said to resemble the brown bear of Europe. I can see no resemblance. There is enough of difference, certainly, to constitute them separate and distinct species. The former has one molar tooth more than the latter; besides, the profile of the black bear is not so much arched, or convex, as that of the brown. In every respect, except habits, they are unlike each other. Their habits are nearly similar.
The whole American continent is the range of the black bear. He can live, and no doubt enjoy life, in all climates. He is equally at home in the icy
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