THE BEAR AND THE BOMB SHELL.
During the early months of the California gold fever the brig Janetentered the harbor of San Francisco. Her freight was intended to supplythe wants of the diggers, and it was the most extraordinary cargo thatwas ever put into the hold of any seagoing vessel, except, indeed, thosevessels which sailed to California at this particular time.
There were pickaxes and shovels, powder and boots, needles and coffee,spikes and tea, horseshoes and tobacco; there were wooden houses readyto be put up; canvas tents and mattresses; there were jackknives,hatchets, revolvers, rifles, socks, books, hats, clothes, barrels offlour, soap, coal, towels, sugar, potatoes, grindstones, locks, quackmedicines, old periodicals, cheap watches, buttons, cotton, glass, tape,bottles, jewsharps, nails, rubbers; and everything else that theimaginative mind of a wild speculator could possibly think of as beinglikely to sell to a young and rich but destitute community.
Whether the speculation was successful or not, is no business of ours.My business is with Tom Allan, the cabin boy of the Janet.
The Janet took out about fifty passengers on their way to the golddiggings. Allan was a stout lad of about seventeen. When he left homehe had no idea of digging gold, but the talk of the passengers on theway out fairly turned the heads of the crew of the Janet, and even ofthe officers, so that when the brig reached San Francisco, and thepassengers landed, the entire crew, together with the cook, the secondmate, and even the first mate, landed with them.
The captain was left alone with the cabin boy. The captain was indespair. He couldn't get anybody to unload his vessel. He couldn't getany crew to take her away. And so the end of it was that Allan yieldedto the universal feeling and took his departure from the ship.
For about a year he led a queer kind of a life. He worked at variousdiggings without much success, until at length he got possession of aclaim all to himself, in a remote locality, which he proceeded to workat with desperate determination.
He erected a little hut, and made himself as comfortable as possible,and set to work vigorously, and soon found, to his great delight, thatthe claim was one of unusual richness.
At last, then, after more than a year of adverse fortune, he saw his wayto success.
One day he was hard at work. He had found a rich vein of quartz inwhich the gold was very plentiful, so much so, indeed, that it waspossible for him to extract it by his own clumsy tools without havingrecourse to a crushing mill.
He had that day been drilling a hole to make ready for a blast, and wasworking away diligently with his drill. The hole was just finished,when suddenly he was startled by a deep and formidable growl closebehind him.
So great was the shock of this unexpected interruption, that the drilldropped from his hands, and he turned around in horror. That horror wasincreased by the sight that he saw. For there, not a dozen yards away,was a monstrous grizzly bear--one of the largest of his species,crouching low, and regarding him with eyes that gleamed like coals offire.
One look was enough. The next instant, without stopping to take asecond glance, Allan darted off with the mad speed of one who is runningfor life, while the huge bear came springing after him.
Such a race as that, if prolonged, could have had but one termination;and this Allan knew but too well.
As he ran, therefore, he looked all around to see if there was anychance of escape. But there was none whatever. There was no high cliffup which he might climb--no narrow crevice in the rocks where he mightseek shelter.
The country was a barren one, with rocks of different sizes scatteredabout, here and there. Among these there did not appear anything thatoffered a hope of escape from the ravening monster that pursued him.
At last, as he looked despairingly around, he saw one thing whichoffered a faint prospect of escape. It was an enormous granite boulderwhich arose in the midst of the plain, surrounded by smaller boulders.
This one was about thirty feet high, and its sides were smooth andconvex. In front of this grew a slender tree, and Allan thought that ifhe could climb the tree, he might be able to get upon the boulder andset his enemy at defiance.
There was no time to lose, so he at once acted upon this idea. Herushed to the tree, seizing it with the grasp of despair, and byvigorous exertions climbed to the top.
Here he was on a level with the top of the granite boulder, and wasable, by a violent effort, to get upon it. The top of the boulder wasflat, and it had been roughened and scarred and worn by the storms ofcenturies, so that Allan found a firm foothold.
The moment that he reached this place of refuge he turned to look at hisenemy.
The grizzly bear was close behind him, and as Allan turned he beheld himgrasping the tree and trying to climb. But the tree was too slender forthe enormous limbs of the bear. He could not grasp it firmly. As thebear began to perceive this, he growled wrathfully and ominously, andfinally desisted from the attempt.
But he did not desist from his pursuit. On the contrary he drew back afew feet, and sitting on his hind quarters, he regarded Allan with alook of grim and patient watchfulness that was terrible to encounter.
On finding that the bear could not climb the tree, Allan experienced afeeling of relief so great that his fear and despair departed. Heaccordingly looked down calmly upon his enemy, and expected that in ashort time he would give up his pursuit and go away. But the bear didnothing of the kind. As long as Allan looked at him, he looked atAllan, and showed a power of patient watchfulness that was in thehighest degree creditable to his bearship, but in the last degreedistressing to Allan.
Hours passed, and Allan gave up all ideas of escape for that night. Hetherefore prepared to pass the night as best he could. After all it wasnot uncomfortable. The rock was hard, it is true, but Allan'sCalifornia life had habituated him to hard beds, so that he could sleepeven here. And sleep he did. Slumber came over him after sunset, andhe slept on as only a California miner can, until some time aftersunrise.
On awaking his first thoughts were about his enemy. Slowly andcautiously he raised his head and looked down. That one short glancewas enough. For there, in the same place, lay the grizzly bear, withhis head upraised in such a way that his fierce, keen eyes encounteredthose of Allan as he looked anxiously down. At this sight Allan sankback, and a feeling of utter despair came over him.
He was both hungry and thirsty. His bones also were sore from a sleepon this rough resting place, and the misery of his confinement affectedhis mind. But what could he do? Again and again the question occurred,What could he do?
In his despair there at last came to him one idea which held out to hima chance of escape. It was a very original idea, and could only haveoccurred to one like him in his last extremity.
He had no arms, but he had his horn full of blasting powder, and in hispockets he had also his blasting fuse. He had matches also.
Now, though he had no firearms, yet in these he had the material bywhich firearms gave all their efficiency. Necessity is the mother ofinvention, and so Allan's dire necessity roused all the inventivefaculty of his mind.
It was a plan which could only be tried once. If it failed he was lost;if it succeeded he was saved. He could not wait; so he at once preparedto put his plan in execution.
He took his powder-horn, filled as it was with blasting powder, and inthis he inserted a piece of blasting fuse.
It thus became a bomb shell, roughly made, it is true, yet none the lesseffective for all that. Then he took off his shirt, and tearing it upinto small ribbons, he formed a long line. Fastening this to the hornhe lighted the fuse, and then slowly lowered it.
At this extraordinary proceeding, all the well-known curiosity of thebear was aroused. He watched the horn solemnly, as it descended, andthen as it came low down, he walked up to it and smelled it.
The smell of the burning fuse was offensive, and he expressed hisdisgust by a low growl.
At last the horn lay on the ground.
The bear wa
s both puzzled and offended. He put his nose close down toit, and snuffed again and again at the butt of the horn. From aboveAllan watched with a quick-beating heart.
Suddenly there rang out a tremendous explosion, and a great cloud ofsmoke rolled up, hiding everything from view. Allan peered cautiouslythrough this, but could see nothing for a long time.
But though nothing met his eyes, his ears were aware of a chaos ofsounds--fierce growls of rage and pain--howls, shrieks and yells, all ofwhich proved plainly that very severe damage had been done to somebody.
At last the smoke cleared away, and then Allan saw the bear. From hishead, and breast, and forepaws the hair was all singed off; the skin wasblackened to the hue of soot; his fiery eyes gleamed no more; they weretight shut, and with growls of agony the monster rushed franticallyabout, tossing, and jumping, and rolling over and over. The explosionhad blinded him, and the fierce animal, in his blindness, presented aspectacle that was terrible to witness.
In his wild leaps and tumbles he went about in all directions, notknowing where. His agony had driven from him all thoughts of his lateenemy.
Allan now sprang to the tree and quickly descended. He ran to his hutand seized his rifle and revolver. Then he hurried back. The bear wasstill writhing and rolling about in his blindness. One well directedshot, however, put an end to the monster's sufferings.
Allan did not care about remaining much longer in this place, but soonafter he returned to San Francisco, bringing with him a sufficientamount of gold to satisfy his wishes, and with this he brought the skinof the grizzly bear.
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Budd Boyd's Triumph; or, The Boy-Firm of Fox Island Page 26
