Grizzly King

Chapter 15

From his hiding place Muskar heard the last sounds of the fight on the ledge.The crack in the rock was V-shaped, and Muska tried his best to squeeze his body into the innermost crack.

Maskar saw Thor pass through the gap in his shelter.It heard the clatter of Thor's paws as Thor backed down the path.Finally, it knew that Thor was gone, and the opponent followed.

Muska was still scared, he didn't dare to come out.These strange pursuers came from beyond the valley, and they terrorized Muska like death.Mascar was not afraid of Pepenascus, and even these strange animals with red lips and white fangs frightened Mascar more than the big black bear Thor had killed.So, it stayed in the crack, curled up as best it could.

The barking of the hound was still lingering in its ears, and at this moment, other noises came again, and the sound was getting closer, which made Masca panic.Langdon and Otto came running, rounding the abruptness of the rock wall, and stopped as soon as they saw the dead hound.Langdon cried out in horror.

Langdon was within twenty feet of Muska.The cub hears human voice for the first time, smells human sweat for the first time.In fear, it held its breath.Later, another hunter stood directly in front of the crack where it hid, and he was the first one Muska saw.After a while, the hunters all left.

Muska then heard gunshots.After that, the barking of the hound became farther and farther away until the sound disappeared completely.It was around three o'clock, it was the lunch break time in the mountains, and it was very quiet everywhere.

Muska remained motionless for a long time.It is listening, but it hears nothing.Now, another fear arises, the fear of losing Thor.So, every time it inhales, it looks forward to Thor's return.Mascar huddled in the crevice of the stone for an hour. After that, he heard the sound of "squeak, squeak". It turned out to be a little rock rabbit with stripes all over his body.When the rock rabbit reached the ledge, Muska saw it at a glance.

Iwasa carefully observes the slain Airedale.This gave Muska the courage to prick up his ears slightly and whimper softly, as if begging the little animals that approached him to recognize him and be friendly with him, because during this terrible hour, Muska felt both lonely and scared. .

Little by little Muska crawled out of the hiding place.Finally, it stretched out its head, looking around with its little round, furry head.The path was empty and silent, and Mascar walked towards the little rock rabbit.With a sharp "squeak", the striped little guy ran away, heading towards his fortress.As a result, Mascar was helpless again.

The cub stood, hesitating for a while, sniffing around, the air was thick with the smell of blood and humans, as well as the smell of Thor.Then it turned and climbed up the hill.

Muska knew that Thor was going in that direction.If the cub has a mind and a soul, it has but one wish now - to catch up with its big friend, its protector.The fear of the Hound and of man was an unknown in his life, and today it is nothing compared to the fear of losing Thor.

Cubs don't need to use their eyes to follow tracks, they rely on their sense of smell.It turned left, turned right, and walked up the hill as fast as possible.But for it with short limbs, some sections of the road are not easy to walk. However, Thor's smell stimulated it, gave it hope, and made it walk forward bravely.

It took Muska an hour to reach the outcrop, from where he could walk between the snow and the skyline.It was four o'clock by this time, and Muska began to climb the last three hundred yards to the summit.Muskar believes that Thor can be found on the top of the mountain.Even so, it was still worried, it kept whimpering softly, and its little claws tenaciously grabbed the shale rock.

When Muska climbed the mountain, he never raised his head to look at the mountain.Had he looked up, he would probably have stopped and turned sideways because the uphill was too steep.Coincidentally, when Mascar was halfway to the top of the mountain, he didn't notice Langdon and Otto coming from the skyline.It didn't smell them either because the wind was up rather than down.Therefore, Muska did not find Langdon and Otto nearby when he arrived in the snow-covered area.At this time, it smelled the smell of Thor's big footprint, and was very happy, and continued to follow.Above it, Otto and Langdon were waiting, crouched low and at the ready, guns on the ground, their thick flannel coats in their hands.When Muska was within twenty yards of them they fell upon him like an avalanche.

If Otto hadn't jumped at it, Muska wouldn't have been sober.It was at the last moment that Muska realized the danger.Otto sprang forward, opening his web-like coat, and Mascar immediately stepped aside.Otto had a relaxed look on his face, a pack of snow wrapped in his coat, and he held it in his arms - for a moment he thought he had caught the cub.At the same time, Langdon rushed forward, but Otto's long legs caught him, causing him to roll over on the snow slope.

Muska galloped down the hill on its short legs.In an instant, Otto was coming straight after it, and Langdon followed, ten feet away from Otto.

Suddenly, Mascar made a sharp turn, and Otto, due to the impact force of inertia, rushed down thirty to forty feet away from Masca. , elbows, and even shoulders pressed against the shale held him still.

Langdon turned quickly and gave full chase to Muska.He opened his coat, face down, and threw himself at Muska. Unexpectedly, the cub made another sharp turn.Langdon stood up, his face bruised, and some dirt and shale sand spit out of his mouth.

Unfortunately, Muska's second sharp turn sent himself directly to Otto.Before Muska could turn around again, it was wrapped by Otto's coat.Immediately, Muska felt pitch black and suffocated.Then there was a shout of victory, which sounded very unpleasant to him.

"I've got it!" cried Otto.

Muska scratched, bit, and growled in his coat, which kept Otto busy.Langdon came running, another coat in his hand.After a while, Muska was tied up.Like a North American Indian baby, its limbs and body are tightly wrapped, and it can't move the binding things at all, only its head is not covered.This is the only exposed part of its body, and the only part it can move.Mascar's head looks rounded, giving Langdon and Otto a laugh that's both frightening and comical, making Langdon and Otto laugh for a minute or two, momentarily forgetting the heartbreak and loss of the day.

Afterwards, Langdon sat next to Mascar and Otto sat on the other side of it, and the two filled and lit their pipes.As for Mascar, its legs cannot move at all.

"We're a strong pair of hunters, aren't we?" Langdon said. "We've come to hunt a grizzly, and we've ended up catching him."

He looked at the cub.Muska stared at him, too, with such sincerity that Langdon sat silently for a while, amazed.Then, he slowly removed the pipe from his mouth and held out a hand.

"Little bear, little bear, cute little bear." He coaxed softly.

Mascar's little ears were pricked up, and his eyes were as bright as glass.Langdon didn't notice, and Otto smiled, expectant look on his face.

"Bears don't bite, no, no, cute little bear, we won't hurt you."

At this moment, Muska roared wildly, and the roar shook the mountaintop. At the same time, Muska's needle-like teeth pierced one of Langdon's fingers.Otto laughed with delight, enough to scare prey a mile away.

"You little devil!" Langdon gasped.Then, sucking on his injured finger, he and Otto laughed together.

"It's quite naughty, it won't admit defeat."

He added, "Otto, let's just call him a 'flamethrower'. Indeed, I've wanted a cub like this since I first went into the mountains. I'm going to take him home!

It's a funny looking little guy, isn't it? "

Mascar turned his head and looked at Otto carefully.Mascar's head is the only part of the body that is not as rigid and immovable as the mummy.

Langdon stood up and looked back at the skyline with a solemn expression.

"Four hounds!" he said, as if talking to himself, "three hounds on the bottom and one on top!" He was silent for a while, then added, "I don't understand, Otto, they helped We rounded up fifty bears, and we've never lost a hound before."

Otto wrapped buckskin straps around Muska's waist and made a handle so he could carry the cub like a bucket of water or a hunk of bacon.Otto stood up, and Mascar hung from the lower end of the rope.

"We've got a killer," he said. "Any carnivorous grizzly is the scariest animal on earth when it comes to fighting or hunting. Hounds will never catch it, Langdon. If it doesn't get dark sooner." If there is, then a hound will not come back. If there are any alive, they will stop the pursuit when it gets dark. The big guy smells us. Believe it, he knows what put him Down in the snow. Grizzly is gone on foot, very fast. When we see him again, it'll be twenty miles away."

Langdon went over to collect the shotgun.When he returned, Otto mentioned Mascar and led the way down the mountain.They paused for a moment on the bloodstained ledge where Thor had lashed out at the hounds who tormented him.Langdon bent down, looking at the hound whose head had been wrung out by the grizzly bear.

"This is Biskutz," Langdon said. "We always thought he was a cowardly hound. The other two were Jane and Torbay. Old Fritz was lying on the top of the hill. They were the best three of ours." Hound, Otto."

Otto looked out of the ledge, pointing down.

"There's one more, thrown down the cliff!" He gasped. "Langdon, there are five in total!"

Langdon clenched his fists and stared at the edge of the cliff, a lump in his throat.Otto understood what it meant.The hound was on its back, below a cliff a hundred feet away.Where they stood, a black blotch on its chest could be seen.

Only one hound bore the mark, and that hound was Langdon's favorite, his pet at the campsite.

"It's Dix," he said.

For the first time Langdon felt a surge of anger welling up inside him.He turned pale as he turned to face the path. "Otto, there's more than one reason to capture that grizzly bear now," he added. "Unless I kill him, even the wild horses won't try to pull me out of the mountains. If necessary, I will Stay here until winter comes. As long as it doesn't escape, I swear I'll kill it!"

"It won't leave." Otto said succinctly, and he mentioned Mascar again, and wobbled down the path.

By this time Muska had gone from frightened to submissive and honest, and he seemed to be feeling utterly hopeless.It tried every muscle in its body to move its limbs, but it was too tightly bound to move.Even so, now, he slowly noticed that as he swung his face from time to time brushed against Otto's thigh.It can still use teeth.Muska is looking for opportunities.

Finally, the opportunity came.When Otto took a big step down from a rock, he would let Muska's whole body rest on the rock for a brief second.

It was too late to say, but soon, Mascar bit off.This bite is really deep.If Langdon's screams disturbed the surrounding area for a mile, Otto's screams were at least twice as loud now.Muska had never heard such a wild and frightening cry, worse even than the howling of the hounds.It was so frightened that it immediately let go of its mouth.

Afterwards, Muska wondered again that these strange bipeds did not take revenge on him at all.The person bitten by it jumped up and down on one foot for about a minute. The jumping movements were extremely weird; while the other person was sitting on a big rock, holding his belly in his hands, shaking forward and backward, his mouth was wide open, There was a strange noise.After a while, the jumping stopped, and he made that strange noise as he was jumping.

In fact, they weren't laughing at Muska at all.However, the laughter affected it, and it thought that the two strange-looking monsters would not dare to fight it, or that they would not resort to force and would not hurt it, anyway, it must be one of the two.After that, they became more careful.Once in the valley, the muscar was hung on the barrel of the gun, and the two men carried it away.

It was getting late, and they approached the balsam bushes reddened by the flames.Muska saw fire for the first time, and at the same time, for the first time, he saw a herd of horses, and these horses looked like huge things, even bigger than Thor.

The third person Muska sees is Mitusen the Indian, who comes out to meet Otto and Langdon.Muska found himself handed over.It was set aside, the firelight shining into its eyes.At this time, a hunter grabbed Muska's ears, and he squeezed tightly, hurting Muska; another hunter tied the harness belt around Muska's neck as a collar .Then a thick rein was attached to the loop, and the other end of the rein was tied to the tree.

During these operations, Mascar roared and bit hard.After a while, the coat on it was untied, and it unsteadily straightened its trembling limbs. At the same time, it bared its small but sharp teeth and roared ferociously, but it temporarily lost the strength to escape.

What was even more strange to Muska was that its roar had no effect on the group.All three, and even the Indian, had their mouths open and were making a loud noise together, which made it incomprehensible.The object of their noise was the hunter who was yelling after Musk bit his thigh on the mountainside.All this made Muska particularly confused.

(End of this chapter)