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JONAS had spent the night
in Chubb's lodge, and when the boy returned in the morning the Indian was
eating his breakfast. After enjoying a meal of bear-steaks, Chubb and his
friend visited the bear-trap, re-set and baited it with pork. Jonas made
Chubb a wooden frame on which to build up his bear, then he started out to
dispose of the rest of the bear-meat amongst the settlers.
Chubb worked carefully on his bear-skin and cleaned it thoroughly. Then he
secured from a stack in a clearing some good dry hay for stuffing. While
going for the hay Chubb kept a sharp look-out for the lost cow, and when he
was returning with his bundle of hay he was delighted to see her.
She was a lively beast at any time, and now she was doubly alert. Cattle
that are allowed to run loose in the bush ruffle up and are much more active
and spirited than the stall-fed. And Chubb saw the cow look at him with head
up and ears alert. The way in which she held her horns told him to be
careful how he approached. All this Chubb noticed, and was glad. He did
approach her, and gave her a few wisps of his hay. But he almost dropped his
bundle in delight when he got beside her, for out from the trees there
bounded towards them a lively little calf.
By driving and coaxing, Chubb got the cow near his lodge. Then he tied her
to a tree with a rope, and kept her to be introduced to a bear. He was
blessed in the mean time, for the milk the cow gave him made a great
addition to his regular diet.
But Bossy did not have to wait long for her strange introduction. On the
second afternoon after her arrival Chubb came dancing home from his trap.
There was a big she-bear in it, and a little cub outside. Chubb hastily got
out his halter and ropes. Untying the cow from the tree, he led her and her
calf to his bear-trap. When the cow scented the bear her eyes grew wild, and
she almost pulled the rope out of Chubb’s hands. He succeeded, however, in
tying her to a tree, and then he went over to the bear. The weight of the
logs had crushed the animal almost senseless. Cautiously pulling away a side
log, Chubb slipped inside, and managed to get his halter over the bear’s
head. She roused herself a little, but the logs held her fast. Chubb added a
rope to the halter, and tied it around the bear’s nose as well as her neck.
Having finished this work to his satisfaction, he lifted up the slip-logs.
Relieved of the weight that crushed her, the bear recovered her senses and
was angry, but she could only roll over and groan in her pain. She roused
herself, however, very quickly when she saw Chubb near at hand and the cow
not very far away. With every minute her strength increased.
The cow was now frantically pulling at her rope. She would run around the
tree, this way and that, trying to get away; trying also to keep her calf in
sight, and sometimes making as if she would like to have a drive at the
bear. The bear could not see her cub, and, as the cow was making such a
fuss, it seemed to think that the cow was the cause of all her trouble. It
was greatly annoyed at the straps and ropes around its head, and tore at
them with Its paws. The halter-straps broke, and then, to Chubb’s horror, he
saw the bear slip the ropes off its head. Thus free, the bear stalked over
towards the cow. Whenever the bear moved, the cow would wheel around and
face it, with her horns near the ground, ready for any attack. The bear had
not fully recovered from its crushing, and therefore only slowly and
cautiously approached the cow. When the bear rested the cow would raise her
head and bellow to her calf, and try to get away with it from that dangerous
place.
When near her antagonist, the bear raised itself on its hind legs. This
action caused the cow to make another frantic effort to get away from the
tree. The rope broke, and she was free. With her tail in the air she charged
the bear. The bear caught the cow’s horns in her paws and nearly broke her
neck, but the cow’s charge was too furious to be stopped. One of her horns
caught the bear’s paw and tore it. A stream of blood spurted over the cow’s
nose. The smell of blood angered her still further, and she charged again.
This time she was more successful, and sent a horn right between the bear’s
ribs.
With a groan of rage and pain the bear fell. The cow ran this way and that
way in her excitement, bellowing all the while for her calf.
Chubb thought that the bear was killed, and went over to it. Though badly
hurt the bear turned suddenly, and caught Chubb by the arm. She nearly
ground it to bits with her teeth. In his agony Chubb fell on the ground,
while the bear raised itself up and stood over him. In its fury it clawed
his shoulder and back, and Chubb would have been killed had not the cow
noticed the movement of her antagonist. When she saw it up, she charged it
again. Catching the bear squarely on the side, she sent it rolling off the
boy.
Chubb, thus relieved, got up and ran as hard as his legs could carry him to
his lodge. He had a few thoughts by the way, but they were not upon the
virtues of prophecy. Overcome by fright and pain, he threw himself upon his
bed of boughs, and became unconscious. In this condition Jonas found him. |
