There is no animal in all the land so terrible anddangerous as the grizzly bear. Not only is he thelargest of the species in America, but he is the fiercest,the strongest, and the most tenacious2 of life--facts whichare so well understood that few of the western hunterslike to meet him single-handed, unless they happento be first-rate shots; and the Indians deem the encounterso dangerous that to wear a collar composedof the claws of a grizzly bear of his own killing3 iscounted one of the highest honours to which a youngwarrior can attain5.
The grizzly bear resembles the brown bear of Europe,but it is larger, and the hair is long, the points beingof a paler shade. About the head there is a considerablemixture of gray hair, giving it the "grizzly" appearancefrom which it derives6 its name. The claws aredirty white, arched, and very long, and so strong thatwhen the animal strikes with its paw they cut like achisel. These claws are not embedded7 in the paw, asis the case with the cat, but always project far beyondthe hair, thus giving to the foot a very ungainly appearance.
They are not sufficiently8 curved to enable thegrizzly bear to climb trees, like the black and brownbears; and this inability on their part is often the onlyhope of the pursued hunter, who, if he succeeds inascending a tree, is safe, for the time at least, from thebear's assaults. But "Caleb" is a patient creature, andwill often wait at the foot of the tree for many hoursfor his victim.
The average length of his body is about nine feet,but he sometimes attains9 to a still larger growth.
Caleb is more carnivorous in his habits than otherbears; but, like them, he does not object to indulgeoccasionally in vegetable diet, being partial to the bird-cherry,the choke-berry, and various shrubs10. He hasa sweet tooth, too, and revels11 in honey--when he canget it.
The instant the grizzly bear beheld12 Dick Varleystanding in his path, he rose on his hind13 legs and madea loud hissing14 noise, like a man breathing quick, butmuch harsher. To this Crusoe replied by a deep growl15,and showing the utmost extent of his teeth, gums andall; and Dick cocked both barrels of his rifle.
To say that Dick Varley felt no fear would be simplyto make him out that sort of hero which does not existin nature--namely, a perfect hero. He did feel asensationas if his bowels16 had suddenly melted into water!
Let not our reader think the worse of Dick for this.
There is not a man living who, having met with a hugegrizzly bear for the first time in his life in a wild, solitaryplace, all alone, has not experienced some suchsensation. There was no cowardice17 in this feeling.
It is said that Wellington or Napoleon, we forgetwhich, once stood watching the muster19 of the men whowere to form the forlorn-hope in storming a citadel20.
There were many brave, strong, stalwart men there, inthe prime of life, and flushed with the blood of highhealth and courage. There were also there a few stern-browedmen of riper years, who stood perfectly21 silent,with lips compressed, and as pale as death. "Yonderveterans," said the general, pointing to these soldiers,"are men whose courage I can depend on; they knowwhat they are going to, the others don't!" Yes, theseyoung soldiers very probably were brave; the otherscertainly were.
Dick Varley stood for a few seconds as if thunderstruck,while the bear stood hissing at him. Then theliquefaction of his interior ceased, and he felt a glowof fire gush22 through his veins23. Now Dick knew wellenough that to fly from a grizzly bear was the sure andcertain way of being torn to pieces, as when taken thusby surprise they almost invariably follow a retreatingenemy. He also knew that if he stood where he was,perfectly still, the bear would get uncomfortable underhis stare, and would retreat from him. But he neitherintended to run away himself nor to allow the bear todo so; he intended to kill it, so he raised his rifle quickly,"drew a bead," as the hunters express it, on the bear'sheart, and fired.
"Back, Crusoe! out of the way, pup!" shouted Dick, ashis favourite was about to spring forward.
The dog retired25, and Dick leaped behind a tree. Asthe bear passed he gave it the contents of the secondbarrel behind the shoulder, which brought it down; butin another moment it rose and again rushed at him.
Dick had no time to load, neither had he time to springup the thick tree beside which he stood, and the rockynature of the ground out of which it grew rendered itimpossible to dodge26 round it. His only resource wasflight; but where was he to fly to? If he ran alongthe open track, the bear would overtake him in a fewseconds. On the right was a sheer precipice27 one hundredfeet high; on the left was an impenetrable thicket28. Indespair he thought for an instant of clubbing his rifleand meeting the monster in close conflict; but the utterhopelessness of such an effort was too apparent to beentertained for a moment. He glanced up at the overhangingcliffs. There were one or two rents and projectionsclose above him. In the twinkling of an eyehe sprang up and grasped a ledge30 of about an inchbroad, ten or twelve feet up, to which he clung whilehe glanced upward. Another projection29 was withinreach; he gained it, and in a few seconds he stood upona ledge about twenty feet up the cliff, where he had justroom to plant his feet firmly.
Without waiting to look behind, he seized his powder-hornand loaded one barrel of his rifle; and well was itfor him that his early training had fitted him to do thiswith rapidity, for the bear dashed up the precipice afterhim at once. The first time it missed its hold, and fellback with a savage31 growl; but on the second attemptit sunk its long claws into the fissures32 between the rocks,and ascended33 steadily34 till within a foot of the placewhere Dick stood.
At this moment Crusoe's obedience35 gave way beforea sense of Dick's danger. Uttering one of his lion-likeroars, he rushed up the precipice with such violencethat, although naturally unable to climb, he reached andseized the bear's flank, despite his master's stern orderto "keep back," and in a moment the two rolled downthe face of the rock together, just as Dick completedloading.
Knowing that one stroke of the bear's paw would becertain death to his poor dog, Dick leaped from hisperch, and with one bound reached the ground at thesame moment with the struggling animals, and closebeside them, and, before they had ceased rolling, heplaced the muzzle36 of his rifle into the bear's ear, andblew out its brains.
Crusoe, strange to say, escaped with only one scratchon the side. It was a deep one, but not dangerous, andgave him but little pain at the time, although it causedhim many a smart for some weeks after.
Thus happily ended Dick's first encounter with agrizzly bear; and although, in the course of his wildlife, he shot many specimens37 of "Caleb," he used to saythat "he an' pup were never so near goin' under as onthe day he dropped that bar!"Having refreshed himself with a long draught38 froma neighbouring rivulet39, and washed Crusoe's wound,Dick skinned the bear on the spot.
"We chawed him up that time, didn't we, pup?"said Dick, with a smile of satisfaction, as he surveyedhis prize.
"Gave us a hard tussle41, though; very nigh sent usboth under, didn't he, pup?"Crusoe agreed entirely42, and, as if the remark remindedhim of honourable43 scars, he licked his wound.
"Ah, pup!" cried Dick, sympathetically, "does't hurtye, eh, poor dog?"Hurt him? such a question! No, he should thinknot; better ask if that leap from the precipice hurtyourself.
So Crusoe might have said, but he didn't; he tookno notice of the remark whatever.
"We'll cut him up now, pup," continued Dick.
"The skin'll make a splendid bed for you an' me o'
nights, and a saddle for Charlie."Dick cut out all the claws of the bear by the roots,and spent the remainder of that night in cleaning themand stringing them on a strip of leather to form anecklace. Independently of the value of these enormousclaws (the largest as long as a man's middle finger) asan evidence of prowess, they formed a remarkably44 gracefulcollar, which Dick wore round his neck ever afterwith as much pride as if he had been a Pawnee warrior4.
When it was finished he held it out at arm's-length,and said, "Crusoe, my pup, ain't ye proud of it? I'lltell ye what it is, pup, the next time you an' I floorCaleb, I'll put the claws round your neck, an' make yewear em ever arter, so I will."The dog did not seem quite to appreciate this pieceof prospective45 good fortune. Vanity had no place inhis honest breast, and, sooth to say, it had not a largeplace in that of his master either, as we may well grantwhen we consider that this first display of it was on theoccasion of his hunter's soul having at last realized itsbrightest day-dream.
Dick's dangers and triumphs seemed to accumulateon him rather thickly at this place, for on the verynext day he had a narrow escape of being killed by adeer. The way of it was this.
Having run short of meat, and not being particularlyfond of grizzly bear steak, he shouldered his rifle andsallied forth46 in quest of game, accompanied by Crusoe,whose frequent glances towards his wounded sideshowed that, whatever may have been the case the daybefore, it "hurt" him now.
They had not gone far when they came on the trackof a deer in the snow, and followed it up till they spieda magnificent buck47 about three hundred yards off,standing in a level patch of ground which was everywheresurrounded either by rocks or thicket. It was along shot, but as the nature of the ground rendered itimpossible for Dick to get nearer without being seen,he fired, and wounded the buck so badly that he cameup with it in a few minutes. The snow had drifted inthe place where it stood bolt upright, ready for a spring,so Dick went round a little way, Crusoe following, tillhe was in a proper position to fire again. Just as hepulled the trigger, Crusoe gave a howl behind him anddisturbed his aim, so that he feared he had missed; butthe deer fell, and he hurried towards it. On comingup, however, the buck sprang to its legs, rushed at himwith its hair bristling48, knocked him down in the snow,and deliberately49 commenced stamping him to death.
Dick was stunned50 for a moment, and lay quite still,so the deer left off pommelling him, and stood lookingat him. But the instant he moved it plunged51 at himagain and gave him another pounding, until he wascontent to lie still. This was done several times, andDick felt his strength going fast. He was surprisedthat Crusoe did not come to his rescue, and once hecleared his mouth and whistled to him; but as thedeer gave him another pounding for this, he didn'tattempt it again. He now for the first time bethoughthim of his knife, and quietly drew it from his belt;but the deer observed the motion, and was on himagain in a moment. Dick, however, sprang up on hisleft elbow, and making several desperate thrusts upward,succeeded in stabbing the animal to the heart.
Rising and shaking the snow from his garments, hewhistled loudly to Crusoe, and, on listening, heard himwhining piteously. He hurried to the place whencethe sound came, and found that the poor dog had falleninto a deep pit or crevice52 in the rocks, which had beenconcealed from view by a crust of snow, and he wasnow making frantic54 but unavailing efforts to leap out.
Dick soon freed him from his prison by means ofhis belt, which he let down for the dog to grasp, andthen returned to camp with as much deer-meat as hecould carry. Dear meat it certainly was to him, for ithad nearly cost him his life, and left him all black andblue for weeks after. Happily no bones were broken,so the incident only confined him a day to his encampment.
Soon after this the snow fell thicker than ever, andit became evident that an unusually early winter wasabout to set in among the mountains. This was aterrible calamity55, for if the regular snow of winter setin, it would be impossible for him either to advance orretreat.
While he was sitting on his bearskin by the camp-fireone day, thinking anxiously what he should do, andfeeling that he must either make the attempt to escapeor perish miserably56 in that secluded57 spot, a strange, unwontedsound struck upon his ear, and caused both himand Crusoe to spring violently to their feet and listen.
Could he be dreaming?--it seemed like the sound ofhuman voices. For a moment he stood with his eyesrivetted on the ground, his lips apart, and his nostrilsdistended, as he listened with the utmost intensity58.
Then he darted59 out and bounded round the edge of arock which concealed53 an extensive but narrow valleyfrom his view, and there, to his amazement60, he beheld aband of about a hundred human beings advancing onhorseback slowly through the snow.
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1
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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derives
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| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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8
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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attains
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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12
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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15
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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23
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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28
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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30
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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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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32
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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33
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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38
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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40
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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42
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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43
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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44
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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45
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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46
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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47
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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48
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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49
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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50
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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52
crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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53
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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54
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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55
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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56
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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57
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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58
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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59
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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