I did not know that the Rocky Mountain wildcat is not nearly so fierce, and that he never attacks man as does sometimes his cousin of the Maine and New Hampshire forests; and I had very slight hopes for the outcome of a struggle twice as severe as that which a furry4 freebooter in the Pemigewassett wilderness5 gave me a good many years ago. I need not have worried. The Colorado Cat was easy game; and when the[286] last charge in my six-shooter had brought him to the floor, his life was soon ended.
That first encounter, in New Hampshire, was more than thirty years ago—years filled with roving adventure and many other things which are apt to crowd the past back into forgetfulness. But I remember it as though it had been yesterday. Small, white “exclamation-points” on my chest, with several other scars, occasionally call it to mind.
I had grown from a consumptive boy to a small but thoroughly6 athletic7 young man. Wrestling, boxing, canoeing, hunting and fishing had brought me into good condition, and every muscle was hard as wire. But for that fact, I should not be writing this; for the fight took my utmost ounce of strength. Had it come a year earlier, my grave would be in the wilderness to-day.
Of the yearly thousands who visit the great summer hotels of the White and Franconia Mountains, extremely few ever penetrate8 the Pemigewassett wilderness. The wild ranges wall its sides, and between them is a huge and virgin9 forest, full of game, dotted and seamed by lakes and brooks10 that swarm12 with trout13. In this almost untrodden wild rises the east branch of the Pemigewassett, the beautiful little river which later becomes the Merrimac.
[287]
I was hunting and fishing that spring on the head waters of the east branch. My canoe swam a lovely but nameless lakelet, and my camp, roofed with birch-bark, was near the shore. There were three brooks running into the lake noisily; and at the south end the clear young river slipped silently out through the dark trees.
It was the last day of May, and still cold in that mountain bowl. I had a fat deer hung high beside my shelter; so there was meat for some time. In a little while the fishing would be very tame, for there the trout have not fully14 learned what a deceiver man is, and there is little sport in standing15 almost astride a rill, and with a five-foot willow16 pulling a dozen or twenty fish out of one pool. But now I knew the big fish were around, and I determined17 to spend the day with my rod.
By ten o’clock I was well over toward Mount Lafayette, on the largest of the brooks which came into my lake from the west; and, descending18 the steep banks to the bed of the stream, prepared to fish down toward camp.
The brook11 fell very rapidly here, in a series of short falls, at the bottom of each of which was a deep, lovely pool of water, so clear that it seemed only air with a light[288] tinge19 of green. I could see pebbles20 ten feet below the surface, and the brown flashes of the sportive trout.
In five minutes I was landing my first fish, a game half-pounder, and others bit as fast as I could attend to them.
There was no need of covering much ground. I could have caught in fifty yards all I could eat in a week. But I kept moving homeward, taking only one or two of the largest fish from a pool and throwing back any accidental small ones.
In this way I had gone down, perhaps, half a mile, when I came to the largest pool I had found on that brook. Here it seemed likely that there might be some particularly large trout. In fact, the first one I struck seemed to be much larger than any on my string; but he snapped the hook and was gone with a splash.
I had drawn21 an extra hook from my box and was “ganging” it upon the line, when some impulse caused me to look up. As I did so, the tin box fell clattering22 upon the rocks and my rod at my feet.
The brook here had cut a narrow gorge23 through a ridge24, and the pool at whose head I stood touched on each side the very foot of a rocky wall nearly forty feet high. I was standing on a ledge25 whence the brook[289] dropped, perhaps, ten feet into the pool, and the banks were not nearly so high there. Still, I presume the tops were fifteen feet above my head.
A giant pine had fallen across the gorge from bank to bank, making a knotty26 bridge, which was almost over me, but a little in front; and upon that great log was the Something which had brought my heart up into my mouth with such a bump.
On the dark side of the tree, behind the stump28 of a huge limb, flat and motionless as you could press your hand upon the table, lay almost the last thing in the world that I desired to see there—a wildcat.
Whether it was crouching29 there when I came, or, as is more likely, had crawled out from the bank to surprise me, I never knew; but there it was confronting me.
I could just see the fierce glints in its eyes; and when its gaze met mine, the tip of the ears, outlined on a patch of sky, seemed to flatten30. My rifle was in camp, for it was too long a walk to bring it when I wished to fish. I had not even a revolver—nothing but a keen-edged, clip-point hunting-knife, which hung in its sheath on my left hip31.
I hardly dared move, but that knife I must have. Slipping my right hand cautiously[290] behind my back, I reached far around, till at last it touched the welcome hilt, and I began to slip the sheath slowly around my belt to the right side, where the knife could be drawn less ostentatiously.
All this time I had never taken my eyes from those of the unwelcome intruder, and I kept scowling32 at him with a savage33 expression which was meant to alarm him, but which sadly flattered my real feelings.
How long we stood eyeing each other thus, I do not know. It seemed an age and must have been several minutes. Neither of us moved. He lay crouched34 and menacing; I stood outwardly defiant35, with my hand on that precious buckhorn handle. And then my wet feet, chilled with the icy water of the brook, betrayed me. I felt a sneeze working toward the surface.
Now, when I sneeze, it is no gentle tschoo! but half a dozen or more wild and uncontrollable explosions, which never fail to bring tears to my own eyes, if they are lucky enough not to scare some unsuspecting stranger.
I struggled to choke that sneeze, to hold it back; but I might as well have tried to hold the foaming36 brook.
Ker-cheooo! Ker-cheooo! Ker-cheooo-oo! With each eruption37 my head flew down and[291] my body shook; and as I straightened up after the fifth burst, I saw—through the mist that filled my eyes—something dark descending upon me like a great, hazy38 bird.
I had not once changed my position since first seeing the wildcat. He was a trifle to my left, and my left foot and shoulder were pointed39 up-stream. Our lives hang on such trifles as that! Now, with the trained instinct of the boxer—who has first to learn to act without stopping to think how to act—I threw my left hand up and out! Half-way to arms-length it met that furry avalanche40, and broke its force. The cat landed full against my side.
Its sharp hind27 claws sank into my thigh41, and the sharper fore3 claws clutched me in the pectoral muscles in front and between the shoulder-blades behind. The pain was cruel, but I had no time even to cry out. At the instant I expected to feel those merciless jaws42 on my neck, and that would be the last.
The wildcat knows where the jugular43 vein44 is as well as the best surgeon of them all; and it is for that that he invariably jumps. Animals killed by these cruel ambuscaders are sometimes left whole and unmangled, save for that wicked little gap at the side of the throat.
[292]
But my boxing lessons had saved me. As my left hand went out in that “straight counter,” it struck full in the throat of the cat; and with the swift inspiration of desperate men, I clutched the folds of fur there with all my might.
The cat strained hard to pull-in to me—and that was a cruel leverage45 it had in my own flesh. But my arm, never a weak one, was doubly strong now; and, though I could not force him from his hold, I kept his head well away from mine, which I “ducked” to increase the still unsatisfactory distance.
Then, drawing the keen six-inch blade, I drove it against his side. His left side was, of course, the one exposed to me; but we were so “mixed up” that I could take no accurate aim at his heart, and just thrust blindly and madly at that stretch of mottled fur.
Nothing will ever dim my recollection of that desperate struggle; and yet I seemed in a sort of trance. You have had nightmares, wherein some savage beast pursued you, and you slammed vain doors on him which he brushed open, and fired ineffective rifles at him whose diminished pop did not affect him in the least; and, do what you would, nothing availed against that implacable[293] danger. So it was with me. I seemed under a spell.
Those awful claws were tearing me everywhere; that fatal head was struggling to break down my tiring arm; and the desperate thrusts of the knife with all the force of my right arm seemed not even to penetrate the tough hide. They went deep enough, as I found later, but at the moment I was sure they hardly scratched him.
Since that day I have been through a great many of the things of whose suspense46 we say, “They seemed eternities,” but never one, I think, that seemed so endless as that. And yet it could hardly have lasted a minute. I was growing very weak. Blood was running down in my boots, and my weary left arm was no longer rigid47. My right was no longer fully under control, and once, when the knife glanced a rib48, it nearly flew from my hand.
Once, too, I struck high, and the cat caught my right wrist between his savage teeth and tore out a piece. Was he invulnerable? I began actually to believe so—to fancy that, after all, it must be a hideous49 dream.
You may imagine from that into what a state my mind had come. But still I plied50 the knife, and still with cramped51 and trembling arm held off the creature’s jaws.
[294]
And then, on a sudden, a great wave of joy swept over me, and I yelled madly. The curving claws, set deep in my back and breast, relaxed. It was only the least bit in the world, but I could feel the exquisite52 pain of that slight withdrawal53; and in another instant they came out altogether, and my foe54 fell limp upon the rocks beside me, where he never moved again.
I looked at him once; my eyes grew dim, and I fell across him.
When I recovered consciousness, we were lying in a heap, wet with our common blood. I crawled a couple of feet to the brook, and the icy water revived me, so that at last I could rise and limp about the field of our strange battle.
The cat was a mass of wounds; and as I counted the eleven fatal thrusts, I marvelled55 at his vitality56 and pluck—and very heartily57 respected them, too. Any one of ten of them would have finally killed him, but he had kept his hold to the very last, which had sunk deep into his heart.
And such a small beast to attack the lord of creation! I do not think he weighed over thirty pounds; but what a model of compact strength and agility58! His skin was so slashed59 as to be absolutely unsavable;[295] but I kept his scalp a long time, till the moths60 destroyed it.
As for myself, I was in little more attractive shape than he. Of my stout61 duck coat and trousers only the right half remained. My duck vest and heavy flannel62 shirt boasted little but a few shreds63 two-thirds of the way around my body. I was half-naked, and my breast, back, left side and left thigh were laced with deep, bleeding gashes64.
There is only one thing about that day which I do not remember; and that is, how I got back that ten miles to camp. But somehow I got there; for when I awoke next morning, very weak and stiff—for of all wounds I know of none so painful as those inflicted65 by a cat—I was under my roof of birch bark, and a spotted66 scalp lay on the sand beside me.
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1
tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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3
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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4
furry
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| adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的 | |
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5
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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7
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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8
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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9
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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10
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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11
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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12
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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13
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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14
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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15
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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16
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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18
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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19
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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20
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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21
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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22
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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26
knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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29
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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30
flatten
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| v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽 | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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32
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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33
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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34
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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37
eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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39
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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40
avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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41
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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42
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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43
jugular
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| n.颈静脉 | |
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44
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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45
leverage
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| n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量 | |
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46
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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47
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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48
rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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49
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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50
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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51
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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52
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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53
withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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54
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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55
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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57
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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58
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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59
slashed
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| v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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60
moths
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| n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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62
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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63
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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gashes
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| n.深长的切口（或伤口）( gash的名词复数 )v.划伤，割破( gash的第三人称单数 ) | |
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65
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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