Grizzly King

Chapter 16

Soon, the three turned away from Muska and began to work around the fire, which relieved Muska a lot and gave him a chance to escape.So he tugged on the rein so hard that he was almost strangled by the rein.It despaired and eventually gave up.It huddled up against the balsam tree and began to look at the bivouac.

Muska was less than thirty feet from the fire.Otto washed his hands in the canvas basin, and Langdon wiped his face with a towel.And Mitusen was kneeling by the fire, holding a big black stick in his hand, stirring the pot above the fire, and the reindeer steak hissed and crackled from the stick, and the good smell even wafted to the horses. Scar there.The surrounding air is filled with delicious aromas.

After Langdon dried his face, he opened a can of something, a can of sweetened condensed milk.He poured the white liquid into the basin, then took the basin and walked towards Mascar.Muska tried to escape, but failed, and his neck hurt so badly that he had to stop.Now, it climbed up the tree.It moved so quickly that Langdon was amazed.

When Langdon put down the milk basin, Mascar yelled at Langdon, spitting.The milk pot was placed almost where the mascarp would fall in when it came down from the tree.

Even though Mascar was in the tree, it was still tied by the bridle.For a long time, hunters paid no attention to it.Muskar saw them eating and heard that they were planning a move against Thor.

"Based on what happened today, we have to figure out a way to deal with it." Otto said loudly, "Langdon, don't track it from now on. Even if you track it to the end of the world, it will always know where we are. Otto paused for a moment and listened. "Interesting, the hound hasn't come back yet," he added, "I guess..."

He looked at Langdon.

"Impossible!" Langdon yelled, knowing the meaning of his companion's expression. "Otto, are you saying that the grizzly may have killed them all?"

"I've hunted many grizzlies," Otto replied calmly, "but never one more cunning than this one. Langdon, who set a trap for the hounds on the ledge, and teased the dog Hounds he killed on the top of the hill. If that's the case, the grizzly will probably kill them all."

He shrugged deliberately.

Langdon continued to listen.

"When it got dark, if there were any live hounds, they should be back here soon," Langdon said. "I'm sorry, but I now regret not having the hounds at home."

Otto smiled, but with a slightly serious expression.

"It's the fate of the hunt, Langdon," he said. "You shouldn't be taking a pack of bulldogs to hunt a grizzly bear. You have to believe that sooner or later some of the bulldogs will die. The bear. It won."

"Did it win us over?"

"I mean, in fair game, he won us. We used hounds against strange opponents. Are you really eager to hunt him down my way?"

Langdon nodded.

"Do you have any good plans?"

"When you're hunting a grizzly, especially when you're chasing a 'killer,'" Otto began, "you've got to have some good ideas. Between now and hibernation, grizzlies are sniffing everything. Why? ?He will take a detour to avoid danger by smell. I bet if there is snow on the ground, you will find that the grizzly will retrace two miles for every six miles, so that it will smell anything that is following it Grizzly bears are mostly nocturnal and lie high on rocks during the day. If you want to keep hunting, there are only two things you can do: keep going and look for other bears.”

"I won't do it, Otto. Is there any way you can catch this grizzly?"

Otto was silent.After a while he replied, "We should mark its range with distances," he said, "about twenty-five miles up and down from the first fissure we crossed, up and down here into the valley. It won't Go to the mountains to the west of the valley, and not to the other valleys to the east of the valley.

As long as we follow it, it will definitely keep going in circles.Now it was heading south along the other side of the mountains. "

"We'll stay here a few days, and then we'll go. If there are any hounds alive, Mitusson will lead the hounds through the valley there; meanwhile we're going south, through this valley, both of us. We One is on the slope, the other is at the bottom of the valley, walking slowly. Do you understand?"

"The grizzly won't leave its territory, and Mitusun is close enough to the border to drive him to us. We both hide quietly and let him hunt openly. If the grizzly doesn't pass by us, None of us had a chance to shoot."

"Sounds good," Langdon agreed. "My knee hurts, and I'm willing to take a few days off."

As soon as Langdon finished speaking, there was a sudden "clang, clang" sound from the harness chains. A horse grazing on the lawn was startled and stood up snorting.

"It's Utim!" Mitusen said in a low voice, his dark face was reddened by the flames.

"You are right, the Hound," said Otto, whistling softly.

There was a sound of movement in the bushes not far from them.After a while, two hounds appeared in the light of the fire.Half lying and half walking, they sneaked in.When they fell at the hunter's feet, the third and fourth hounds followed.

They were not like the hounds they had set out that morning.At this time, the hound is tired from running, the sides of the abdomen are sunken, and the slender and strong neck spine is flattened.The hounds had lost their will, they knew they were beaten, they looked like a pack of whipped dirt dogs.

One of the hounds had blood on its head and throat.

A fifth hound came out of the night.It was limping, dragging a damaged foreleg.They were all flat on the ground, as if waiting to be punished.

"We're lost," their gestures clearly stated the fact, "we're defeated, and that's all that's left."

Otto and Langdon said nothing, they stared at the hounds.

Otto turned and walked over to the pile of pans and canvas bags and pulled out the dog leash.Mascar was still on the tree, shaking all over.Within a few yards, it saw the group of grinning white-toothed fellows again.They had chased Thor, and driven him into a crevice.Muska was no longer so afraid of people, and these people were not malicious to him, so when someone walked by him, he didn't tremble or growl anymore.And the hounds, they are demons, they fought Thor, they must have beaten Thor, so Thor fled.

Mascar was lying on a branch of a tree, five feet above the ground, and the tree that bound him was actually a small tree.When Mitusen led a hound passing by, the Airedale dog saw Masca and jumped up suddenly. The hound broke free from the leash held by the Indian and almost jumped to the place where Masca was. high.The hound was about to spring again when Langdon rushed forward, growling ferociously.He grabbed the dog by the collar, restrained the hound, and hit the hound hard with the leash.Finally, he chased the hound away.

The move confused Muska more than ever.Langdon rescued it and beat the red-mouthed and white-fanged demon.Now, all these demons are tied at the end of a rope and led away.

Langdon returned, stopped by the tree where Muska was tied, and spoke to Muska.

Muska allowed Langdon's hand to come within six inches of it, and it stopped biting Langdon's hand.After a while, Muska suddenly felt strange and trembled all over his body.It turned its head slightly to see Langdon's hand boldly resting on its furry back.

Gently touch, no pain at all!Even my mother has never put a bear's paw on her body like this before!

Another 10 minutes passed.During this period, Langdon stroked the cub six times in a row.For the first three or four times, Mascar showed two rows of white teeth, but said nothing.Slowly, it no longer opened its mouth to show its teeth.

Later, Langdon leaves.After a while, he came again with a large piece of raw reindeer meat.He took the meat and brought it close to Mascar's nose. Mascar sniffed it and retracted his head again.Finally, Langdon put the meat next to the milk pot under the tree and returned to Otto, who was smoking.

"In two days it will obey me," he said.

It didn't take long for the bivouac to become very quiet.Langdon, Otto, and the Indian quickly fell asleep wrapped in blankets.The fire was getting weaker and weaker, and soon there was only one smoky log left.The stars grew brighter, an owl hooted low in the woods, and the humming of valleys and mountains echoed the calm night.Muska heard the rumble of a large boulder rolling to the side of the mountain in the distance.

Now there was nothing to frighten Masca, there was silence, and everyone was asleep except him.Meanwhile Mascar climbed down the tree slowly and carefully.When it reached the bottom of the tree, it let go of its limbs, and half of its body fell into the basin.There was sweetened condensed milk in the tub, and some of it splashed on its face.Mascar unintentionally stuck out his tongue and licked it.The thing splashed on the face was sweet and sticky, and suddenly, its heart was filled with unexpected happiness.It licked its own body for 15 minutes.Then, as if the mystery of good food had suddenly enlightened and pleased it, its small bright eyes hung greedily on the tin basin.It cautiously approached the tin basin, first made a half circle around the tin basin, then turned around and made another half circle.Every muscle of his was primed to spring back as soon as the tin basin bounced towards him.Finally, its nose touched the thick and fragrant delicacies in the basin, and it didn't raise its head until every drop of condensed milk was eaten.

Mascar's brain is small but full of energy.Condensed milk became a major factor in the domestication of mascarpone, which communicated something in the cub's brain.Muska knew that the hand that had touched it put this wonderful delicacy under the tree, and it was the same hand that invited it to eat the meat.Mascar didn't eat meat, but he licked the basin until the bottom of it lit up in the starlight like a mirror.

Even though Mascar ate the condensed milk, he still wanted to escape.It struggled again, but this time the attempt was not as crazy and impulsive as before.

These experiences educated it and made it understand that it is useless to jump and pull on a leash.So, it began to bite the rope.If it keeps biting at the same place on the rope, it will be free before dawn.However, when its mouth is tired of biting, it rests, and when it bites the rope again, what it bites is usually another place on the rope.In the middle of the night, his gums ached.So it gave up, completely abandoned all attempts.

Muska sticks close to the tree and climbs up the tree at the first sign of danger.Muska was waiting for dawn, and he didn't sleep with his eyes closed.Although it was not as frightened as before, it felt very lonely.It missed Thor, and it was whimpering, so softly that no one a few yards away, even if they were awake, could hear it.If the Grizzly Bear King｜Chapter 15 Peppernascus came to the campsite, he would be happy to welcome him, Muska thought in his heart.

At dawn, Mitusen was the first to crawl out of the blanket.He starts a fire, which wakes Otto and Langdon.After Langdon got dressed, he went to visit Muska.When he found the milk basin was licked clean, he was very happy and immediately told the others.

Muska climbed onto the branch, and it allowed Langdon to run his hands over its body.

Afterwards, Langdon took out a can of canned food from the cowhide pan, and opened the can directly under Mascar, so that Mascar could see the milky white liquid poured into the basin.Langdon picked up the basin and moved closer to Mascar, and the condensed milk got on his nose.How could Mascar just keep his mouth shut?It ate, it ate for 5 minutes, Langdon held the basin in his hand, and Mascar ate the contents of the basin.But when Otto came to observe, Muska grinned and growled sharply.

Over breakfast, Otto asserted, "A bear will make a cuter pet than a dog. In a few days, Langdon, he will follow you like a puppy."

"I'm starting to like this little guy," Langdon replied. "Otto, tell me a story about Jameson's grizzly bear, please?"

"Jameson lives happily in Kootenay," said Otto. "He's a perennial hermit, I guess you'll call him. He comes out of the mountains only twice a year to buy food. He takes the ashes Bears as pets. He had a big grizzly bear for several years that was as big as the guy we were hunting. Jameson adopted him when he was a cub. When I saw the Grizzly weighed a thousand pounds. But wherever Jameson went, Grizzly followed him like a dog. Even when Jameson was hunting, he took it with him, and Sleeping by the same campfire. Jameson loved bears and never hunted them."

Langdon said nothing.After a while he said, "Otto, I've grown to like them. I don't know why, but some stories about bears have made me like them. I don't want to hunt so many bears again." Now, maybe after we catch the hound-killer we're after, we won't kill a single bear. I'm almost convinced he's the last bear I'll kill." Suddenly, Langdon clenched his fists and said angrily. Added, "Come to think of it, there is not a single province in the Dominion, nor a single state in the South of Bodø, that has a season where bear hunting is banned. It's just too much, Otto! Bears are considered a pest , can be hunted all year round. Even in their hibernating burrows, they are taken out along with their cubs. Oh my god! I have been a helper digging hibernating bears out of their burrows! We are beasts Otto. Sometimes I almost think the guy with the gun is the criminal. Well, I'm still hunting."

"It's innate." Otto smiled, unimpressed. "Langdon, do you know anyone who doesn't like to watch a life die? Everyone huddled together like vultures around a dead horse." Together, isn't it just to catch a glimpse of the same kind being crushed into a pulp by a boulder or a locomotive? Langdon, why? If there is no fear of the law, humans will kill each other for fun. Humans will, humans are born to want to hunting."

"Well, we take so much cruelty for granted," Langdon said cautiously. "After all, if we or our descendants are killed in war, we don't deserve a lot of sympathy and condolences, do we? Maybe you That's right Otto. We all have the motive to kill our neighbors, we just can't do it legally, so every now and then the Lord of All Things will bring us a war to temporarily quench our thirst for blood .Ouch, what happened to the cub?"

Muska slipped from the tree, misdirected, and ended up hanging in the air.Langdon trotted toward it, boldly grabbed it with his bare hands, lifted it up over the big branch, and lowered it to the ground.Muska didn't bite Langdon, or even growl.

Otto and Mitusson were out of camp that day. They spent the day looking around the western side of the mountains. Langdon stayed at camp to heal a knee he had bruised by a stone the day before.For most of the time, Langdon was with Muska.By noon, Langdon opened a jar of scone syrup.He made Muska follow him around the tree, while he lured Muska with the dinner plate; no matter how hard Muska tried, Langdon would not let the cub reach the plate.Finally, Langdon sat down, and Mascar ate the syrup while lying on Langdon's lap.

At this age, it is easy to win the affection and trust of a Mascarpone.

Tiny black bears are a lot like babies: they love milk, sweets, and snuggle with people or animals who are nice to them.He's the cutest four-legged animal ever, round and soft and furry, and he's a lot of fun that's sure to keep everyone around him in a good mood.More than once that day, Langdon laughed until he was in tears, especially when Mascar insisted on climbing up his lap to grab the syrup tray, much to Langdon's delight.

Mascarp especially loves syrup.It could not remember that its mother had fed it anything like this; nor had Thor given it anything better than fish.

In the evening, Langdon untied the ropes tied to the tree and led Muska for a walk by the stream.He held the syrup plate, pausing every few steps to let the cub taste what was on it.This drill lasted half an hour, after which he left the leash entirely and headed toward camp.As for Mascar, it actually followed behind!It was successful, and Langdon's heart thumped with joy. His life in the wild had never brought him such excitement.

Mitusen returned late, and Otto was nowhere to be seen, much to Langdon's surprise.

As night fell, they built a bonfire.After dinner, another hour later, Otto came back with a load on his shoulders.Otto threw the thing to the ground, and Muska was hiding behind a nearby tree.

"A skin like velvet, and dog meat," he said, "I shot it with a pistol."

Otto sat down and began to eat.After a while, Muska approached cautiously the thing that was curled up three or four feet away.It sniffed, and its whole body trembled strangely.Then, it whimpered softly while kissing the soft, life-warming fur.After that, Muska was very calm for a while.

What Otto brought back to camp and threw under the tree was the body of young Pipenascus!

(End of this chapter)