The Pioneer Boys of the Yellowstone; or, Lost in the Land of Wonders

by St. George Rathborne

  CHAPTER XVI

  THE BATTLE IN THE CAVE

  INSTINCTIVELY all of them guessed what the character of the intrudermust be. The terrible roar, and the glimpse they obtained of the greathairy body ere the fire was scattered right and left betrayed it.

  "A bear!" cried Roger, voicing the discovery of his companions as wellas his own.

  All was confusion. Mayhew had been rather unfortunate, for he chancedto be partly in the way of the onrushing beast as it made straight forthe fire, the presence of which in its den must have aroused its anger.

  He was just in the act of scrambling to his feet when he was struck bythe beast's huge body, and was bowled over just as you may have seen apin hit by a speeding ball in the alley.

  Dick had somehow managed to snatch up his gun when he gained his knees.The place was now almost in darkness, since the burning brands hadbeen scattered far and wide. The body of the infuriated animal was sobulky, however, that he could not fail to discern its outlines againstthe wall, where a still flickering brand chanced to lie.

  The boy knew that it was no time for hesitation. No matter what hadcaused the animal to attack them, and even though the fire had been thefirst object of its rage, those who were responsible for the intrusionmust come next on the list.

  He thrust the long-barreled gun straight out, and, without waiting torest the butt against his shoulder, pulled the trigger as soon as hefelt the muzzle strike something yielding.

  There was a muffled roar as the rifle was discharged. Dick, with thehunter instinct, instantly threw himself aside, anticipating that thewounded bear would turn upon him for revenge.

  His shot had apparently not been a fatal one, though it brought anotherof those dreadful roars from the occupant of the cave; and now, sinceit was impossible for him to reload his gun unless given time, he wouldhave to cast it aside and resort to his hunting knife.

  Roger had not quite lost his senses, although the abruptness of theattack must have bewildered the boy. When he threw himself back out ofthe way he somehow missed connection with his gun. That it was ever inhis mind was proved by the frantic way in which he instantly started togrope about on the bare rock near his feet, as though in expectation offinding it.

  After all, it was the brilliant flash accompanying the discharge ofDick's gun that showed Roger his own weapon. He quickly seized it, andthen turned to deliver his fire.

  All this was taking place in much less time than it takes to readit. The bear was certainly in deadly earnest, and evidently meant tocomplete the job that had been undertaken with such fury.

  Roger saw his chance to shoot, and was not neglectful of it. Oneexperience with a monster of this type had shown him the necessityfor sending his bullet to some vital spot, for he knew that a woundedgrizzly would never turn tail and run.

  A kind fortune must have guided the shot, for, beyond a doubt, had itfailed in its mission, the fate of the boys would have been settled.Shut up there in a cave in contact with a savage bear, armed with clawsan inch in length, and rendered wild with pain, they would have hadbut small chance of escape.

  With the muffled discharge of Roger's rifle the beast staggered, andthen fell with a crash. Dick was trying to get a charge of powder intothe barrel of his gun, though his hands trembled so that it was a nextto impossible undertaking.

  It happened that just then his foot struck against some object, and,filled with a wild hope, he bent down to ascertain what it could be.When he found that he had come upon Mayhew's gun, Dick was ready toshout with joy, for he knew that, if Roger's shot had failed, there wasstill another chance.

  There was no need of further exertions, it proved. The two shots,delivered at such close range, had completed the work, for the monsterlay still upon the floor of the cave. A smell of burning hair causedDick to pluck one of the still blazing fagots away, which, withpresence of mind, he immediately utilized for starting a fresh fire.(Note 4.)

  Mayhew was discovered, sitting up and looking somewhat dazed. He had alump on his head where it had come in contact with the rock at the timethe rush of the bear had thrown him aside; but, on the whole, theyfelt that they could congratulate themselves that things were no worse.

  Of course the first thing the boys did was to reload their weapons.If there was one bear in the cave there might be a mate, and it wascertainly the part of wisdom for them to be in readiness to defendthemselves to the utmost.

  After the fire had been revived, the guns placed in a condition forservice, and Mayhew's injuries looked after in a way that, crude as itmight be, satisfied him, they began to figure out how it all came about.

  "Then this is a bear's den, after all!" Roger commenced; "yet not oneof us ever thought of such a thing, did we?"

  "I saw nothing that would tell it," admitted Mayhew, "and, if the beastwas in the habit of coming in by way of the opening that we used wewould have known it. A bear's den always has a smell that you willnotice as soon as you enter; that has been my experience in all myhunting, and I've run across a few."

  "Then there must be another entrance more convenient to the huntinggrounds of the bear," Dick observed. "The beast may not have been inits den when we arrived. Coming along, just a little while ago, ourfire attracted attention, and then the discovery of human beings hererendered it furious."

  "It beats anything I ever met with," commented Mayhew. "No black bearwould ever dash upon a fire unless first terribly wounded. But thisbeast was as wild as if we had been filling her hide with lead."

  "All we have been hearing from the Indians and the French trappersabout these silver-tip bears of the mountains seems to be true,"remarked Dick.

  "They are fearful enemies," said Roger. "We have been lucky to kill thetwo we have met; but, if a shot should fail, the hunter would neverescape being torn into ribbons."

  He took up one of the immense paws of the dead beast as he spoke,and exhibited the claws that decorated it. They were terrible enoughto send a shudder through the bravest heart, especially when oneconsidered the titanic strength possessed by the steel muscles of theanimal.

  "Well," ventured Dick, "it turns out that there is danger hoveringover those who invade this strange country, even when they believethemselves securely quartered in a cave!"

  "But I hope this little adventure is not going to make us think ofleaving here, to spend the night under the stars, and in the coldwind?" Roger hinted, a little fearful lest his comrade should considerthis the wisest policy.

  Dick could plainly see what was worrying the other, and he hastened toset Roger's fears at rest.

  "If we have to choose between two evils," he said, "we might as welltake the lesser. We know what we can expect out there. That wind is askeen as the edge of my buckhorn hunting knife, and would go through uslong before morning. And, after all, there may be only one bear. Howabout that, Mayhew?"

  "If you asked my opinion, I would say here by all means," replied thewood ranger, immediately. "We can take watch and watch, and be on ourguard through the night."

  Roger drew a breath of relief.

  "That would be much better than freezing half to death outside!" heexclaimed; "and you can count on me to take my regular turn. But, Dick,one thing is sure--we must not let our fire go out while we stay here."

  "That would be only the part of wisdom," Dick decided, "and, while wehave the chance, perhaps we'd better fetch in plenty of wood now. Thenight is long, and a fire eats up a lot of fuel."

  This they set about doing without delay. Mayhew, feeling a little dizzyafter his rough experience with the onrushing bear, was told to standguard while the boys looked after the wood supply. It might have beennoticed, however, that both of them slung their guns over their backsby means of the straps used for this purpose. Evidently they did notmean to be caught napping, and if by chance they encountered the mateof the slain bear while laying in a supply of fuel they wanted to be incondition to give him a warm reception.

  But nothing happened. If there was a second bear he must have been faraway fr
om his den on that night, for he failed to disturb the peace ofthe explorers' camp.

  The plan of keeping watch by turns worked splendidly, and there was nota single minute that one pair of eyes did not remain on the alert fordanger, while two of the party slept.

  Hours crept on, and Dick, who had taken his turn for the second time,believed it must be drawing close to dawn outside. Roger and theborderman were sleeping by the fire. Hard though their beds may havebeen, they were accustomed to roughing it, and not a murmur had beenheard. A piece of wood served for a pillow, and in that warm shelterthey needed no covering.

  Creeping to the exit Dick took an observation. He found it was indeeddaylight, and that the wind had died down with the coming of the sun,though the air still felt pretty cold to him, especially after havingbeen in so snug a retreat for many hours.

  It was really time they were up and doing. The future did not look verypromising. They would have to run the risk of firing their guns, so asto secure fresh meat, for they must eat to live. And somewhere within aradius of ten or twelve miles Jasper Williams might be found, either ina camp of his own, or as a prisoner of the hostile Indians.

  If ever Dick Armstrong had cause to call upon his resolute andhopeful heart it was when he faced such a dismal outlook. Never oncedid he falter. His lips were firmly pressed together, and on hissunburned face there rested a look of determination that no amount ofdifficulties could dissipate.

  He immediately awoke the others.

  "The dawn has come, and we must be on the move!" he announced.

  No one uttered a complaint. Roger had, before going to sleep, managedto remove the terrible claws of the dead grizzly. That would be theonly token they could show as evidence of the truth of their storyconcerning the night attack, and the fight in the cave.

  So they issued forth, shivering at first when the cold air struck them.

  "Good-by, old cave," said Roger, waving his hand back toward the smallblack hole amidst the rocks, the discovery of which had added somuch to their comfort; "we will never forget you as long as we live.A bear's den may be a queer place to spend a night in; but when ithappens to be a bitter cold night it might be a whole lot worse."

  They took up the work in earnest, and as all of them were exceedinglyhungry, their first duty was to secure food. Of course, they might havefood for several days, if they cared to use the carcass of the deadgrizzly, but the meat was so tough and coarse that, after one trial atmaking a breakfast of grizzly steak, they all agreed that they wouldrather rely on the chance of obtaining more palatable food. If theycould only run across a deer it would supply them with all the meatthey wanted for several days, and, although they realized the dangerof discharging their guns while the hostile Blackfeet were in thevicinity, they were willing to run that risk.