Part 13 (2/2)

”Are you sure?” asked Albert.

”Quite sure. He does not stir in the slightest.”

They opened the door and went out. The great grizzly was really dead. Their bullets had gone true, but his vitality was so enormous that he had been able to rush upon the cabin and tear at it in his rage until he fell dead. Both boys looked at him with admiration and awe; even dead, he was terrifying in every respect.

”I don't wonder that the cougar, big and strong as he was, slunk away in terror when he saw old Ephraim coming,” said d.i.c.k.

”We must have his skin to put with our two buffalo robes,” said Albert.

”And we must take it to-night,” said d.i.c.k, ”or the wolves will be here while we sleep.”

They had acquired some skill in the art of removing furs and pelts, but it took them hours to strip the coat from the big grizzly. Then, as in the case of the buffalo, they cut away some portions of the meat that they thought might prove tender. They put the hide upon the roof to dry, and, their work over, they went to sleep behind a door securely fastened.

d.i.c.k was awakened once by what he thought was a sound of growling and fighting outside, but he was so sleepy that it made no impression upon him. They did not awake fully until nearly noon, and when they went forth they found that nothing was left of the great bear but his skeleton.

”The timber wolves have been busy,” said d.i.c.k.

Chapter VIII The Trap Makers

The hide of the bear, which they cured in good style, was a magnificent trophy; the fur was soft and long, and when spread out came near covering the floor of their cabin. It was a fit match for the robe of the buffalo. They did not know much about grizzlies, but they believed that no larger bear would ever be killed in the Rocky Mountains.

A few days later d.i.c.k shot another buffalo in one of the defiles, but this was a young cow and her flesh was tender. They lived on a portion of it from day to day and the rest they cured and put in the Annex. They added the robe to their store of furs.

”I'm thinking,” said d.i.c.k, ”that you and I, Al, might turn fur hunters.” This seems to be an isolated corner of the mountains.

It may have been tapped out long ago, but when man goes away the game comes back. We've got a comfortable house, and, with this as a basis, we might do better hunting furs here than if we were hunting gold in California, where the chances are always against you.

The idea appealed to Albert, but for the present they contented themselves with improving their house and surroundings. Other bears, cougars, and wolves came at night and prowled around the Annex, but it was secure against them all, and d.i.c.k and Albert never troubled themselves again to keep awake and watch for such intruders.

Winter now advanced and it was very cold, but, to d.i.c.k's great relief, no snow came. It was on Albert's account that he wished air and earth to remain dry, and it seemed as if Nature were doing her best to help the boy's recovery. The cough did not come again, he had no more spells of great exhaustion, the physical uplift became mental also, and his spirits, because of the rebound, fairly bubbled. He was full of ideas, continually making experiments, and had great plans in regard to the valley and Castle Howard, as he sometimes playfully called their cabin.

One of the things that pleased Albert most was his diversion of water from a hot spring about fifty yards from the cabin and higher up the ravine. He dug a trench all the way from the pool to the house, and the hot water came bubbling down to their very door. It cooled, of course, a little on the way, but it was still warm enough for cooking purposes, and Albert was hugely delighted.

”Hot water! Cold water! Whatever you wish, d.i.c.k,” he said; ”just turn on the tap. If my inventive faculty keeps on growing, I'll soon have a shower bath, hot and cold, rigged up here.”

”It won't grow enough for that,” said d.i.c.k; ”but I want to tell you, Al, that the big game in the valley is increasing at a remarkable rate. Although cold, it's been a very open winter so far, but I suppose the instinct of these animals warns them to seek a sheltered place in time.”

”Instinct or the habit of endless generations,” said Albert.

”Which may be the same thing,” rejoined d.i.c.k.

”There's a whole herd of elk beyond the far end of the lake, I've noticed on the cliffs what I take to be mountain sheep, and thirty or forty buffalos at least must be ranging about in here.”

”Then,” said Albert, ”let's have a try at the buffaloes. Their robes will be worth a lot when we go back to civilization, and there is more room left in the Annex.”

They took their repeaters and soon proved d.i.c.k's words to be true. In a sheltered meadow three or more miles up the valley they found about twenty buffaloes grazing. Each shot down a fat cow, and they could have secured more had not the minds of both boys rebelled at the idea of slaughter.

”It's true we'd like to have the robes,” said d.i.c.k, ”but we'd have to leave most of the carca.s.ses rotting here. Even with the wonderful appet.i.tes that we've developed, we couldn't eat a whole buffalo herd in one winter.”

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