CHAPTER TWELVE.
WE FEEL AS IF WE WERE GOING OVER THE FALLS OF NIAGARA--SMOTHERED BYSNOW--WE APPEAR BY DEGREES--OBED MISSING--WE GIVE HIM A WARM BATH INSIDETHE BEAR--OUR DANGEROUS PREDICAMENT--HOW TO GET OUT OF THE RAVINE--SAMAPPEARS ABOVE US--WE CLIMB OUT WITH NO LITTLE DIFFICULTY--THE BEAR'SCAVE--HAVING HAD ENOUGH BEAR-HUNTING WE RETURN HOME--FIND A NATIVEVISITOR, WHO INFORMS US THAT WE MAY EXPECT SOON AN ATTACK FROM ANOVERWHELMING FORCE OF RED-SKINS.
We were all standing round the carcase of the huge she-bear, when it andthe surrounding mass of snow began perceptibly to glide onwards over theedge of the terrific precipice. I have seen a poor fellow sitting in aboat, utterly beyond his control, gliding rapidly down the rapidstowards the falls of Niagara. Quicker and quicker it has moved, till,reaching the edge, it has seemed to hover for a moment, as if unwillingto make the fatal plunge, and then over it has leaped with the rapidityof lightning, and it and its hapless occupant have been for ever hidfrom human sight. I felt at the moment very much the same sort ofsensations which I can fancy the occupant of the boat must haveexperienced, as the mass of snow, increasing in speed, rapidly nearedthe precipice. From where I was, I had not the slightest power to leapoff it. I fancied that all my companions were in a similar condition.
There is an eastern story, in which a man puts his head into a basin ofwater, and during the few seconds he holds it there, he finds that hehas gone through the adventures of a lifetime. I do not think that manyseconds could have passed from the moment that the snow began to move,till Short and I, and the rest, found ourselves, with the body of thebear, rolling over and over, and bounding from rock to rock, amidconfusing heaps of snow, down into the bottom of the glen. How I amalive to tell the tale I do not know, and that fact makes people listento me with no small amount of incredulity. I was more blinded, stunned,and confused than I had ever been in my life before, and each bound Imade I thought would knock the breath out of me; but as for reaching thebottom, I never expected to do that--at all events alive. Now I got akick from one of my companions in misfortune; now I was knocked againstthe hairy carcase of the bear; now I was almost suffocated with theoverwhelming masses of snow which were showered around me. One thing Iown--I did not just then think much about anybody else; I could not helpanybody, and I knew that no mortal could help me. Down I went, as I wassaying, bounding away, snow above, below, and round me. At last I wasquiet. I opened my eyes--I was under the snow--I felt a suffocatingsensation.
"After having got thus far without broken limbs, it won't do to have thebreath squeezed out of my body for want of exertion," said I to myself,working away with arms and shoulders, till, as a chicken cracks theshell of its egg, I broke through the covering of snow which was aboveme, and once more I popped my head into daylight. I was in the midst ofa sea of snow, the hind paw of the big bear was close to me, so I hopedthat friend Short was not far-off, while I could make out several of myother companions struggling up through the snow around us. High aboveus towered the cliffs, and it seemed indeed wonderful that any of uscould come down such a height alive.
There is a Greek fable I remember reading as a boy at school, of theground being sown with teeth, and out of it coming armed men. I cannothelp thinking that we must have looked very much like those ready-madeheroes, as I and my companions struggled up out of the snow. ElihuRagget was the first who joined me. Sam Short did not appear; I toldElihu that I thought he must be near--probably under the bear, and thatif not released, he would certainly be smothered. So, without a word weset to work with our hands, shovelling out the snow as well as we could.We thought, as we worked away, that we heard a groan. This made usredouble our exertions to release our friend. We had not been a minuteat work, when a shout reached our ears, and on our looking up, thereappeared the very man we were in search of, standing on a ledge ofrocks, high above our heads. He seemed unhurt, and he was shouting tous to ask how we were. We thought, therefore, that we must have beenmistaken as to the groan, when some one asked, "Where is Obed Ragget?"
"Oh, lads, help me!" cried Elihu; the thought that his young brother layburied beneath our feet, and that he had not missed him, striking himwith shame.
"Ay, ay," was the answer, as we all set to with even more energy thanbefore. We dug and dug away round the bear, till at length a man's legappeared, and then his body, and in a few seconds the snow was clearedaway, and my friend Obed Ragget was drawn up out of the snow. But wegazed at him with sorrow, for not a spark of life appeared in him. Therest were going to give him up as dead, but I entreated them not todespair. I examined him, and found that, as far as I could judge, therewas not a bone broken, and when I put my mouth down to his, I felt surethat he still breathed.
"What he wants is warmth," said I, just then recollecting that the bodyof the bear would still afford it. No sooner thought of than done. Itwas a desperate, and not altogether a pleasant remedy. We cut a hugeslit in the body of the bear, and stripping off Obed's outer garments,we clapped him in, keeping only his head outside, while all of us stoodround to assist in giving him warmth. We watched anxiously for theresult. First one eye opened, then another; then he sighed heavily; andat last he sang out, and asked where he was. In a little time helaughed quietly.
"Don't call me a cub," said he, "that's all; I think that I amwonderfully better. I am much obliged to you and the bear, but now Iwould just as soon come out into the world again."
After this we had no longer any anxiety about him, and certainly ourremedy had a very wonderful effect in restoring him to animation. Nowcame our difficulty as to how to get out of the gully into which we hadfallen. There was an outlet, but the way to it was evidently almostimpracticable, and where it might lead we could not tell. Besides this,there was Sam Short, perched like an eagle above our heads; only Sam,not having wings like an eagle, could not get down to us, nor, as far aswe could see, could we get up to the top of the cliff above him. Weshouted, but we could not make each other hear.
"If the big bear was up at the top, we should not be long before wewould be up to him," observed Obed; "Sam would soon cut her hide up intostrips and haul us up."
We looked about; as to climbing up, that was out of the question. Forfifty feet above our heads there was a perpendicular wall of rock.Above that there were numerous ledges or platforms, and the cliff seemedcomparatively easy to climb. While we were looking about and discussingthe matter, we saw Sam attempting to climb up the cliff. After manyattempts he succeeded in reaching the top, and disappeared from oursight. He was absent for some time, and when he was again seen, he hada coil of something or other, we could not exactly make out what, roundhis neck. We now saw him, after carefully examining the cliff belowhim, begin to descend. We watched him anxiously, for our very existencedepended on his success. He reached at last the place where he hadbefore stood, then he cautiously commenced descending still lower.
"What donkeys we have been!" suddenly exclaimed Elihu; "the coil ofstuff he has got won't drag any of us up, we must make a rope forourselves."
We quickly had our knives going, and soon had Bruin completely flayed,and his hide cut up into short strips joined together. All the time wewere at work, we every now and then looked up to see how Sam was gettingon. The fear was that he might slip on the frozen rock, and cometoppling down unable to save himself. Just as we had finished our rope,a shout from him proclaimed to us that he had reached the lowest ledgehe could hope to gain. Without a moment's delay he began to unwind hisline. It was a very thin one, and had numerous knots and joints in it.As we watched it, we were in doubt whether the end would reach us; itjust came down above our heads. By leaping up we could touch it; but asto making a rope fast to the end, that was out of the question. Samsoon discovered our difficulty. The rope was drawn up a little, andthen down it came, so that we could make fast to it the end of our newlyformed bear's-skin rope. "Haul away!" we sang out, and up it went.
There was a doubt, however, whether that would be long enough. Wewatche
d it anxiously as it drew near the end, and then up, up, up itwent, far beyond our reach. We went back and shouted to Sam. What hesaid in return, we could not make out. Here was a bitter disappointmentindeed. Our labour had been fruitless; our hope of escape well-nighvanished. Presently we saw the end of the rope descending till it cameeasily within our reach. Short, directly afterwards, appeared at theedge of the cliff.
"What will you do? Shall I haul you up, or will you climb up?" heasked.
We were unanimously of opinion, that it would be safer to climb up, aswe might help ourselves a little by placing our feet on the inequalitiesin the side of the cliff, and there would be less chance of the ropechafing and breaking. We drew lots who should go up first. The lotfell on Obed.
"Stand from under if I come down," he said, laughing, and seizing therope.
Up he began to mount. He was very active and muscular in proportion tohis weight. Still it was no light undertaking to have to ascend such aheight. For his sake, as well as our own, we watched him with intenseanxiety. Up, up he went. Now he swung off from the cliff, now his feetwere planted on a ledge of rock, and he stood there to rest. Then againon he went. The fresh hide stretched fearfully, and it seemed as if toa certainty it would give way. There was no turning back, however. Nowhe came to a part of the cliff where he had to trust entirely to therope. With hands, and knees, and feet, he worked away. None but aseaman or a backwoodsman could have accomplished the undertaking sorapidly, if at all. He was almost at the top. Sam reached over to helphim. We held our breath. Now seemed the critical moment. How was heto scramble up over the edge of the cliff, exhausted as he must be withhis exertions? Sam seized him by the collar and throwing himself back,dragged him up by main force. Now we all uttered a loud shout ofcongratulation, for thus far Obed was safe. Three or four of the othermen followed. The last, having more friends to help them over the edgeof the cliff, found it easier than Obed had done.
My turn came at last. Only Elihu and another man had to follow. Myarms ached as I got half-way up, and the sickening idea came over methat the bear's hide was chafed, and would break with me just as I gotup to the most critical part. I rested for a moment on the last spotwhich afforded space for my feet, and then swung off into mid-air. Inow knew the sensations which my companions must have experienced. Theywere very like those which one has occasionally in a nightmare sort ofdream; to feel that one ought to be climbing up, and yet scarcely tohave strength to lift one's arms. It must be remembered that we wereall clad to keep out extreme cold, and that a buffalo coat is a prettyheavy weight to have on one's shoulders even under ordinarycircumstances. My great consolation was, that the snow was pretty soft,and that if I did fall, I might possibly, having once taken the tumble,escape without breaking my neck.
To make a long story short, I did reach the ledge at last, and so didthe rest of my companions; and then we hauled up the bear's hide, andcommenced our still more perilous ascent to the top of the cliff. Bythe bye, Elihu and the other man had bethought them that we might behungry after our exertions, and had brought up a supply of bear steaks,which added not a little to their weight. I doubt if one man alonecould have succeeded in scaling that height, for it must be rememberedthat Sam Short had only gone up the higher part. Still, with a numbertogether, all heartily assisting each other, we found the taskcomparatively easy. When we came to a difficult place, we shoved thelighter ones up first, and then they let down a rope, and the resthauled themselves up by it.
At length we all stood on the top of the cliff, not far from the bear'scave, and when we looked down into the valley we were indeed surprisedthat we had escaped with our lives, and I hope that we all felt trulythankful for our preservation. Short now told us that he had, when hehad before gone up to the top, caught and killed one of the young bears,and had cut up its hide to make a line, but that one or more stillremained. I had a great fancy for a young bear, so Obed and I resolvedto try and capture one. Accordingly, while the rest of the party werecutting some wood to light a fire for the sake of cooking the bearsteaks, Obed and I started away with part of our rope towards the cave.
"I suppose there are no more big bears inside there," said Obed; "theyare mighty ugly customers to beard anywhere, but especially in their ownden."
"No fear," I answered; "if one had been in there, he would have appearedlong ago. We shall only find a cub or two, and there will not be muchdifficulty in capturing them." I ought to have said that most of theparty had recovered their fire-arms. Obed and I had left our rifles farback, away from the snow which had slipped with us over the cliff, sothat we had them now uninjured. The cave was large, and for somedistance there was light enough to enable us to see our way, but it atlength became so dark, that we could not see ahead. All we could do wastherefore to feel our way with our rifles.
"I think we must be near the end," said I at last. We had a tinder-box:Obed struck a light. The blue glare of the match showed us two hairybundles rolled up near the the wall of the cave. While he lightedanother match, I rushed up to one of the bundles, which I found, byreceiving a sharp bite, was a little bear. I soon, however, had theyoung gentleman's fore-paws bound tightly together, and was dragging himout towards the mouth of the cave. Obed seized the other, while thematch was still burning on the ground, and we thus had them bothcaptives. We brought them in triumph to our friends, who were feastingon their mother. We did not offer them any of the poor brute, and Idare say they thought us very greedy for not doing so, not probablyentering into our delicate feelings on the subject.
Having refreshed ourselves, all hands agreeing that we had had quiteenough bear-hunting for the day, we set off on our return to camp. Wehad no little difficulty in getting our young bears to move along. Poorlittle things! they did not like the cold, and of course missed theirmother. Still, by dint of poking and pulling, we made them keep up withthe rest of the party. Now the excitement was over, I must say that Inever felt so tired in my life. Still I would not relinquish mycaptive. Indeed it would have been barbarous for us to have done so, asit would have died of cold and starvation. At last, at nightfall, wedid get in. We found all the camp in a great state of agitation, verymuch on our account, and not a little on their own. When we inquiredwhat was the matter, they took us into the general sitting-room, andpointed to an Indian, habited in the full-dress warrior costume ofwinter, who was squatting down before the fire. He looked pleased whenhe saw us, and counted our numbers. "Good!" he exclaimed, in thedeep-toned voice of his people. "Now fight well; drive away bad man."The English vocabulary of our guest was very small, and no one in thecamp had been able to comprehend exactly the information he came togive, except that an attack might be expected, at some time or other,from a large tribe or tribes, hostile to the white man. Short, however,who understood several of the Indian dialects, now came in to act asinterpreter. The information he elicited was still more alarming. Itwas to the effect that before long we might expect to be attacked byoverwhelming numbers of red-skin warriors, from whom, if they took us bysurprise, we should have very little chance of escaping.
Dick Onslow Among the Redskins Page 12
