The Greatest Works of Emerson Hough – 19 Books in One Volume (Illustrated Edition). Emerson Hough
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Rob fired more than the one shot, but when they joined him it was at the side of the dead body of a five-hundred-pound grizzly, in prime, dark coat, a silver tip such as any old bear-hunter would have been proud to claim as a trophy.
Rob was trying his best to control his excitement, and both the other boys were trembling quite as much as he. Leo quite forgot his calm and gave a tremendous yell of joy, and, advancing, shook Rob warmly by the hand. “Heap shoot!” said he. “I see!” And, taking the bear by the ear, he turned its head over to show the small red hole in the side of the skull.
“He was right here,” said Rob, “not thirty-five yards away. When I first saw him his head was down, but then he raised it and stood sideways to me. I knew if I could hit him in the butt of the ear I’d kill him dead at once, so I took that shot.”
“Son,” said Uncle Dick, “this is fine business. I couldn’t have done better myself.”
“I s’pose you’ll give me twenty dollar now,” said Leo; at which they all laughed heartily.
“I certainly will, Leo,” said Uncle Dick, “and will do it right now, and on the spot! You certainly made good in taking us up to the bear, and it certainly was worth twenty dollars to see Rob kill him as quick and clean as he did.”
“Is he good to eat?” asked John.
“No, John. And if he were, you couldn’t eat all of him; he’s too big. Some men have eaten grizzly liver, but I beg to be excused. But here’s a robe that down in the States would be worth a hundred and fifty dollars these days. Come on, Leo, let’s get our work over with and get back to camp.”
Under the experienced hands of Leo and Uncle Dick the great robe was rapidly removed. Leo rolled it into a pack, and Uncle Dick showed him how to make it firm by using two square-pointed sticks to hold it in shape after it was folded — a trick Moise had taught them long before. Leo, though not a large man, proved powerful, for he scorned all assistance after the heavy pack was once on his shoulders, and so staggered down the mountainside. So pleased were the boys over the success of their hunt that they hardly noticed the icy ford when again they plunged through the creek on their way to camp.
XXII
THE YOUNG GRIZZLY-HUNTERS
So excited were our young hunters over their first bear-hunt that they scarcely slept at all that night. It was a very merry party which sat late about the little camp-fire high up in the mountains. Their camp was rather a bivouac than a regular encampment, but they now scorned any discomfort, and, indeed, exulted in their primitive condition.
“Now, Leo,” said Uncle Dick, “what do you think about these boys as hunters?”
“One boy heap shoot,” grunted Leo. “Kill ’um one bear when mans along. Don’t know about other boys.”
“But let me tell you they have killed bear before now, and big ones, too. Why, two years ago, up in Alaska, all by themselves, they killed a Kadiak bear a good deal bigger than this one whose hide we have here for our mattress to-night.”
“Yes, and last year up on the Peace River we helped kill a big grizzly,” added Jesse, “only Alex MacKenzie was along, and he shot, too.”
“But this time, Leo,” continued Uncle Dick, “you must admit that only one shot was fired, even if we were in the woods near by.”
“That’s all right,” admitted Leo, who still felt aggrieved at the humiliation of not being allowed to use his own rifle in the bear-hunt. “S’pose only one bear, and only one boy, what then?”
“Well, in that case the best thing the bear could do would be to run away. As I told you, a rifle will shoot just as hard for a boy as for a man if the boy knows how to hold it.”
“Did you ever have a bear come at you, Leo?” inquired Rob.
“Sometam bear come, not many,” said he, indifferently. “Sometam bear get scared, not know which way he’s ron — then people say he’s got mad.”
“And didn’t you ever get scared yourself, Leo?” inquired Jesse.
“Too much kill ’um bear long time for me to get scare’,” said Leo, proudly. “Kill ’um more bear pretty soon,” added he, pointing over to the steep country on the other side of the valley.
“Well, I was just thinking,” said Uncle Dick, “we could very likely get more bear. But why? Some one will have to go down to camp and carry this hide, or else take word to the other men to come up and get it. Besides, this isn’t the only bear valley in the country. What do you say, boys? Shall we stay up here, or go back and run on down the river farther?”
The boys were silent for a time. “Now, Uncle Dick,” said John, at last, “no matter where you are, you’re always in a hurry to get somewhere else. It’s pretty hard to climb up into the real bear country even when you get near to it. Now here we are, already up, and we know that this is good bear country. We would only lose time if we hunted up any other country lower down.”
“That’s very well reasoned, John. What do you say, Jesse?”
“Well, I don’t see any good in working the men too hard packing the stuff up from a main camp anywhere else. The devil’s-clubs stick a fellow a good deal. Besides, here we are.”
“And you, Rob?”
Rob looked for a time up at the clouded sky, bright with innumerable stars. “Well,” said he, “it certainly does look as though we were going to have clearer weather. And if so, we will have higher water. I stuck a stick in a bank for a water-mark yesterday, and I’m just wondering how much the river has risen since then.”
“Precisely, and that’s well reasoned, too. You see, I don’t want to take any more chances running these rivers than I have to.”
“How far is it to the Columbia from here, Leo?” inquired Rob.
“Half-day ron — whole day, don’t know. S’pose water all right.”
“Exactly,” rejoined the leader of the party. “We don’t know how long the water will stay all right. Every day we run puts that much behind us. And I want to tell you all that the danger of hunting these grizzlies is nothing at all compared to the risk of running the upper Columbia when the rise is on. I’ve tried both, and I know.”
John protested at this. “Well, Rob has got his bear, but, you see, Jess and I haven’t had a shot yet — though I don’t suppose that is why Rob is willing to go.”
“No, that isn’t the reason,” commented Rob, quietly.
Uncle Dick thought for a time. “Well, I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” said he, at length. “We’ll stay at least one more day and hunt here to-morrow. Then if we don’t have any luck to-morrow we’ll run on down and have a look at the Columbia, and if she isn’t too bad we’ll stop at some good country below — say on Nagel Creek, down the bend.”
“That seems fair,” assented John; and Jesse also said he would vote the same way.
“How about you, Leo?” inquired Uncle Dick.
“Me not ’fraid of any water,” replied the courageous Indian. “I like stay here. Most best grizzlum country of anywhere. Down below too much timber. Plenty black bear, not so much grizzlum. Not many place where you’ll get grizzlum now. This plenty good place.”
“Agreed,” said Uncle Dick. “I think you all reason pretty well, and am convinced that we could spend another day here to good advantage. And now, Rob, since you got your bear, I think I’m going to send you down to camp in the morning for Moise and George. They can carry down the hide and some of the other stuff which will have to go down.”
“All