XV

THE BEAR HUNT

Late in the summer, a large black bear that had been living remote among the mountains became tired of the dismal solitude of its abode, or else perhaps found difficulty in obtaining food enough far off in the forest, and came toward the settlements of men to see what it could find. It was very successful in this expedition. In a lonely field near a farmhouse it discovered a flock of sheep sleeping quietly one midnight. The bear crept up to them and seized a lamb in its powerful jaws and then ran off into the woods. The lamb set up a loud and incessant bleating, though the sound grew fainter and fainter as it was borne off through the thickets.

The whole flock of sheep was aroused by these sudden cries, and all began to bleat and to run in a panic toward the house. They all ran thus except one, the mother of the lamb that was carried away. She, instead of going with the others, ran into the gloomy thickets where her lamb had disappeared, and resolved to attack the enemy if she could overtake it, whatever it might be. She, however, did not succeed in overtaking the bear, and ran to and fro completely bewildered. The bear knew perfectly the way it was to go. It had eyes that could see even in the densest recesses of the forest, and in the darkness of midnight.

The farmer came out with a lantern to learn the cause of the commotion, but he could not determine whether any of the sheep or lambs had been carried away. The darkness and the confusion prevented him from counting those that remained to see if they were all there. He presumed from the bleating of the mother sheep that one of the lambs was gone.

In the morning all doubt was at once removed; for the spot where the bear had struggled with its prey was plainly to be seen, and its track could easily be traced into the woodland, marked, where the ground was soft by the impression of its footsteps, and at other places by blood.

On making these discoveries the farmer's indignation was roused to the highest pitch. He called his neighbors to see the tracks made by the bear. They had flocks and herds exposed to the same danger and soon formed a plan for arming themselves and setting off into the woods in a company to endeavor to find the bear in its retreat and kill it.

For arms the farmers got out all the muskets, fowling pieces, and pistols they could find in their houses; and those who had nothing that would shoot supplied themselves with pitchforks, hatchets, and stout clubs. One man made a sort of spear of the point of a scythe which he contrived to fasten into the end of a handle that had once belonged to a pitchfork. It made a very formidable-looking weapon, and the man brandished it in the air before him, and said that all he wanted now was to see the bear coming at him with its mouth open. He would give it something to swallow not quite as tender as the flesh of that lamb.

In the meantime, the messengers galloped from farmhouse to farmhouse spreading the tidings. One of them came to Mr. Henley's and told Beechnut the news, in hope that some of Mr. Henley's workmen might go with them. It happened that the workmen were all away. Margaret was just going down to the river to join Frank, who was on the little pier, fishing; but her attention was arrested by seeing the horseman ride rapidly into the yard. When he stopped before Beechnut, who was saddling a horse that was hitched to a post near the- barn, she went to hear what was the matter. After the messenger had finished what he had to say he rode away as fast as he came.

Beechnut left the saddle loose on the back of his horse, and hurried into the house, while Margaret walked slowly and thoughtfully down toward the pier. She was thinking of the bear and intending to tell the story to Frank.

Frank had heard the footsteps of the horse as it came galloping along the road, and had looked around to see what was the matter.

He observed that the messenger, after a moment's conversation with Beechnut, went galloping away. This excited his curiosity. He stood, accordingly, on the pier holding his fish-pole in his hands with the line in the water, but with • his face turned toward Margaret. As soon as she came near enough to hear him he called out, "What was it that man galloped into the yard about? "

"About a bear," replied Margaret.

"What about a bear?" asked Frank very eagerly.

"It is about a bear that came out of the woods and carried off a little lamb," said Margaret, who had now reached the pier. "The men are all going off into the woods to shoot the bear and bring the lamb home."

In a very hurried and excited manner, Frank immediately laid his fishpole down on the pier, placed a flat stone across it to keep it steady, and set off for home. Margaret ran after him, urging him to wait for her. Frank, however, was too much stirred by the intelligence he had received to pay any heed to Margaret's calls. He made his way as fast as he could into the yard to find Beechnut. He caught a glimpse of him going into the shop. Frank followed and found him examining an old gun he had taken down from a high shelf.

"Are you going into the woods to shoot the bear?" asked Frank.

"I am going into the woods," replied Beechnut; "but I do not expect to shoot the bear."

"Has my mother given you leave to go?" Frank inquired.

"Yes," was Beechnut's answer.

He had been to the house and asked permission to accompany the expedition. Mrs. Henley had been unwilling at first to give her consent. But Beechnut said that they had flocks of sheep to be defended as well as the neighbors, and that it was incumbent on him, since all the men of the farm were away, to go with the other farmers. Whatever might be the difficulty or the danger, he ought to take his share with the rest. So finally Mrs. Henley consented.

Beechnut explained all this to Frank who said, "I mean to go too. I will ask my mother."

He ran off to the house, but in a few minutes returned looking very downcast and disconsolate. Beechnut was still at work on the gun, and his attention was so absorbed by it that he paid no heed to Frank. Margaret was standing by looking at the gun with an expression of mingled curiosity and awe. She glanced up when Frank came into the shop, and said, "Will she let you go?"

"No," replied Frank peevishly; ." and I don't see why. I might go as well as Beechnut."

"She will not let you go then?" said Beechnut, snapping the hammer of the gun back and forth in his attempt to put it in order. "How provoking!"

"Yes," Frank responded, "it is very provoking indeed."

"If I were you," said Beechnut, "I would do something or other very desperate. I would fret about it all day."

Frank was silent.

"You will not find another thing so good to fret about in a twelvemonth," continued Beechnut. "Here now is a boy that his mother will not allow to set off in a company of fifty men with dogs and guns to make a tramp of six miles through the woods among the mountains hunting a wild beast; and see how patient the little fellow is!"

So saying, Beechnut began to pat Frank gently on the back. Frank seized a leather strap which chanced to be lying on the bench, and gave Beechnut a great whack across the shoulders with it. Then he ran out of the shop. He tried very hard to look cross until he was out of sight, but he did not quite succeed.

Just as he was passing out of the door he burst into an involuntary laugh. He recovered himself almost immediately, and Beechnut having followed him to the door saw him standing there, pretty near, looking as sullen as ever.

"Poor little lamb!" said Beechnut in a tone of great condolence.

On hearing these words, Frank made a dash at Beechnut intending to pound him with his fists; but Beechnut evaded him by running around the horse. As he ran he said, "I meant the lamb that the bear carried away — not you."

"No," asserted Frank, "you meant me. I know you did."

Beechnut now stopped to put the saddle properly on the horse and to fasten the girths. He then went into the shop, and came out a moment afterwards carrying a small light ax. With that in his hand he mounted the horse and started to ride away.

"Are you not going to take the gun?" asked Frank.

"No," replied Beechnut.

"Why not?" Frank inquired.

"Oh, there are various reasons," Beechnut responded.

He was advancing across the yard toward the gate, and Frank was trotting along by his side holding on to the stirrup.

"The gun is out of order," Beechnut continued, "and I am afraid it would not go off. If it should go off, I am afraid it would kick me over. If it did not kick me over, I am afraid it would shoot one of the men; and if it did not shoot any of the men, I am afraid it would not hit the bear. So good-by. Poor little lamb!"

Frank stooped and seized a handful of grass which he threw at Beechnut as he cantered away. Then he walked back to meet Margaret. He told her Beechnut was the greatest tease that ever he knew, and he hoped the bear would catch him in the woods and eat him up.

Frank now went and got a wooden gun Beechnut had made for him some time before, and amused himself and Margaret for more than two hours in rambling about the yard and garden, and shooting at various objects which he made believe were bears.

The men that were to go on the hunt met at the house of the farmer whose flock had been attacked. Here they agreed on the rules of the expedition. They were all to proceed together, following the track of the bear as long as the track could be seen. Then they .were to separate into a number of parties, each under its own leader, and proceed by different paths, though in the same general direction. They were to be very careful not to fire a gun unless they should actually see the bear, so that the report of a gun in the forest would be a signal to all who heard it to go immediately to the spot whence the sound came. In case the several parties should become so widely separated that some failed to hear the guns, or in case the bear should not be seen and no guns fired, they were each to keep on as far as they thought they could safely go and get back that night. These arrangements being agreed on, the expedition began its march.

The men walked in single file following the track of the bear, with the more experienced and sagacious hunters in front to keep a sharp watch. Some of the young men in the company laughed at Beechnut for bringing an ax. They asked him whether he thought that an old bear was going to stand still like a maple tree while he came up with his ax to cut the bear down. Beechnut took all this raillery in good part and trudged patiently on in his place in the line with the ax on his shoulder.

After getting about a mile and a half into the woods, the leaders of the expedition lost sight of the track and could not recover it. The company then divided into several distinct parties and went on at a little distance from each other so as to explore a considerable breadth of forest as they advanced.

Beechnut was attached to a party of six led by an old hunter whom the men called Uncle Harry. He had joined this division because he had more confidence in Uncle Harry than in any of the other commanders. The rest were noisy and talkative and were continually calling out to the company to go this way or that, and directing attention to discoveries which always turned out to amount to nothing. Uncle Harry said little and made no pretensions and yet was very observant and watchful. Beechnut therefore concluded he would have the best chance of seeing the bear by following Uncle Harry.

The old hunter knew the country perfectly well, and he formed a correct judgment of the route which the bear, would be likely to take. He pushed on, however, without seeing any signs of the bear for more than three miles. At length, just as they were entering a wild and dismal glen almost surrounded by rocky precipices, Uncle Harry suddenly stopped and said, "Hush!"

He pointed up the glen. The men all looked, and there on the ground under an oak tree they saw a monstrous black bear sitting with its fierce glaring eyes turned full on them.

Beechnut glanced around the glen to see if there were any way by which the bear could escape in case it was attacked by the men and wounded. He noticed a path leading up the rocks at one side of the glen, and this seemed to be the only egress except that blocked by the men. Immediately he left the party and running into a thicket stole round by a circuit until he came to the path about halfway up the ascent.

Just as he reached this point he heard a volley discharged from the guns. He sheltered himself behind a great tree, and then peeping around from one side looked down into the glen. The bear had disappeared. It had been slightly wounded by one of the guns and had scrambled up into the oak tree. The men were loading their guns anew. Presently they fired a second time.

The bear was again slightly wounded, and it hastily came down the tree and rushed toward the path Beechnut was guarding. He stood all ready with his ax while the bear scrambled up the hill. The instant the creature came within his reach he dealt its head a tremendous blow that felled the bear dead to the ground.

The report of the guns and the shouts of the men brought one of the other parties to the spot. The rest had wandered too far away to hear them. By using the stems of young and slender trees, the men who were assembled made a sort of handbarrow to put the carcass of the bear on and carry it home. They found a road in returning which took them back by a nearer way than that by which they came.

When they approached the settlements of the farmers, Uncle Harry and the other men told Beechnut to get on the barrow with the bear that they might carry him home in triumph. Beechnut wished to decline this honor, but the men insisted, and so he mounted the barrow and took his seat on the bear.

The procession went on very well thus for a short distance, but presently came to a little bridge, which, though strong enough when first built, was getting old and decayed. Just as the men carrying Beechnut and the bear were midway on the bridge it broke down, and half the party fell into the brook. Beechnut being the highest, fell the farthest, and the sharp end of one of the poles of the barrow entered his leg and made a shocking wound. For the rest of the way he had to be carried in earnest.

During the next two or three days Beechnut suffered a great deal of pain from his wound. He was feverish and restless besides, and thirsty all the time. Frank and Margaret went in occasionally to see him, but he could not talk much with them, and they soon went out. Once when Frank visited the bedside he asked Beechnut whether there was anything that he could do for him.

"Yes," replied Beechnut, "if you will go up into the mountains and bring me down a little brook so that I can have it running here by my bedside, and drink as much as I want, I will be everlastingly thankful to you."

Frank laughed and said he could not do that; but he would go to the well and get a pitcher full of cool water.

Two days later, Frank and Margaret came to Beechnut's door one morning after breakfast and peeped into the room. Beechnut saw them and told them to come in. As they entered they perceived that he was much better. "How do you do this morning?" asked Frank.

"Well!" replied Beechnut emphatically, swinging his arms at the same time over his head. "Perfectly well. I never felt better in my life. I could mow an acre of grass this morning, if they would only bring it to me here on the bed. I have got to be still on this bed a week longer till the wound gets healed; but I am going to have beefsteak for breakfast. Think of that!"

Frank said he did not think much of that. He had been having beefsteak for breakfast himself nearly every morning right along.

"But I am a convalescent," explained Beechnut.

He then attempted to sit up in his bed a little by way of showing how strong he was; but he found that he was not so strong as he had supposed, and on attempting to raise his head he was faint and dizzy. He was, therefore, very glad to lie down again.

However, he gained a great deal of strength in the course of the day. Frank and Margaret came in several times to see him, and in the afternoon he was well enough to hear Frank read a story from a book, only Beechnut went to sleep during the reading. Frank looked a little disappointed when he turned around at the most interesting part of the story and saw that Beechnut was asleep. But the nurse seemed pleased and said the very best thing that could be done with a book where any one was sick was to read the sick person to sleep with it.

Beechnut was such a good patient and obeyed the directions of the physician and nurse so implicitly that he recovered very rapidly. At last he could sit up in an easy chair with his foot on a cushioned stool before him. Here he amused himself in making a pair of crutches, and by the time they were done he was vigorous enough to walk all about the room on them.

Frank was so much pleased with this operation that he said he wished Beechnut would make him a pair of crutches. He tried Beechnut's, but they were too long.

"Well," said Beechnut, "the first time you get hurt so you cannot walk on your legs I will make you some crutches."

"No," replied Frank, "I want them at once. But stop, I'll hurt myself now, and then I must have them."

Then he tumbled down on the floor and pretended to have sprained his ankle. After that he went limping about the room moaning and making the most ludicrous contortions both of face and figure, greatly to Margaret's amusement.

Beechnut finally agreed to make Frank a pair of stilts which he thought Frank would enjoy more than the crutches. Thus the matter was settled, and when the stilts were ready Beechnut was able to go out and show Frank how to use them. He now began to resume his usual work and soon was as hearty and well as ever.