Grizzly King

Chapter 3

About a mile from the mouth of the valley, where Jim Langdon reined in, the spruce and balsam trees thinned down to the mouth of the valley.He held his breath and looked ahead.After a moment, Langdon let out a pleasant breath while swinging his right leg, knee peacefully hooked into the stirrup—he was waiting.

In the woods, two or three hundred yards behind him, Bruce Otto was arguing with the disobedient pack mare Disban.Otto yelled and yelled at Disban, threatening Disban with every form of torture and punishment he knew, from disemboweling it to finally knocking its head off with a club, and so on.Otto was always uttering a string of horrible words over the head of the slippery and utterly ignorant Disban.One of Otto's chief pleasures was Langdon's laugh whenever he heard his companions shouting loudly.

If Disban did somersaults with his diamond-stuffed sack, Langdon thought, the yells of big, kind Otto would ring out into the sky, sounding menacing.

Six horses walked out of the forest one after another with their loads on their backs, and the mountain man who led the way rode on the last horse.He hunched over the saddle, a posture he had developed in his years of life in the mountains.The mountain road was rugged, so he had to ride a mountain pony, gracefully supporting his [-]-foot-long body.

Seeing Otto approaching, Langdon dismounted and looked across the valley ahead.The blond beard on Langdon's face was thick and stiff, but it couldn't hide his dark brown face from weeks of outdoor life in the mountains; Dark neck; blue-gray eyes keen and penetrating, with the joy and alertness of the hunter and adventurer.

Landon is 35 years old.He usually spent some time in the field, and then devoted himself to writing, describing what he saw and heard in the field.His companion, Otto, was five years his junior, but six inches taller, which might have been an advantage.Otto didn't think so, he often said: "What a pity, I'm still growing taller!"

Otto rode up and dismounted.Langdon pointed into the distance.

"Have you ever seen such a nice place?" he asked.

"Nice place," Otto agreed. "Langdon, this is a good place to camp too. There should be reindeer here, and bears. We need some fresh meat.

Can you give me the matches? "

They both liked to light their respective pipes with a match whenever they had the chance.At this moment, they were observing the surroundings while performing this cigarette lighting ceremony.Langdon exhaled the first puff of smoke from his mouth, and at the same time nodded towards the forest he had just walked through.

"This is a good place to pitch our tent," he said, "with dry wood, running water, and good balsam trees. We've been on the road for a week, and it's time to make our beds. We can hitch our horses on the little plain we just crossed, and the The place was open and big enough that I saw lots of buffalo grass and wild timoth."

Langdon checked his watch.

"It's only three o'clock, you can go on. Hey, stay here for a day or two and take a look at this place, what do you think?"

"I think so," Otto replied.

Otto sat down as he spoke, with his back against the rock, a long brass telescope resting on his lap.Langdon removed a pair of binoculars from his saddle.This was imported from Paris as a Civil War memorabilia.Sitting side by side, with their backs against the rock, they watched the rolling slopes and verdant mountains ahead of them.

They are where they are catching big game.In Langdon's words, this is "uncharted territory."As far as Langdon and Otto knew, no other hunters had been here so far.This is a closed place with an extremely vast territory.If you want to cross this place, you need to trek for 20 days and walk a hundred miles.

That afternoon, Langdon and Otto climbed the summit of the Great Divide, which divides the sky from north to south.Now they were looking through binoculars at the first green slopes and wonderful peaks of the Brazier Mountains.To the north is the Skeena River; to the west and south are the Babine Range and Waterway; to the east, across the Great Dividing Range, is Driftwood, and further east are the Omnica Mountains and the Finlay Tributary.Langdon and Otto had set out from civilization on May [-]th, and now, on June [-]th, they were traveling north.

Watching through the binoculars, Langdon was confident that they had finally reached their long-desired destination.In the past two months, they have made unremitting efforts, expecting to come to a place where there is no human habitation, and they have succeeded.There are no hunters here, no prospectors.The valley ahead is filled with hope of gold.Langdon was about to explore the mysterious valley and learn about its wonders, and his heart was filled with joy and satisfaction that only a man like Langdon could fully experience.Otto is Langdon's friend and companion.In his eyes, all mountains and valleys are similar, he was born in the mountains and valleys, he lived with them all his life, and probably will die in them.Otto had already been to the northern mountains five times with Langdon.

Otto suddenly nudged Langdon with his elbow.

"I see three reindeer crossing the slopes in the valley a mile and a half away," said Otto, never taking his eyes off the binoculars.

"I saw a female goat standing on the black shale with her young on the first hill to the right," Langdon said. On the thousand-foot cliff, it is staring at the ewe!
Its beard is a foot long.Otto, I bet we hit a real Eden this time! "

"Look," replied Otto, tucking his long legs up to better position the telescope, "there must be sheep and bears here. If I'm wrong, it'll be the worst thing I've ever done in my life." guess."

The two of them had been watching the valley, and five minutes passed without a word being exchanged between them.Behind them, the horses are greedily eating the thick and rich grass.

The sound of running water in the mountains lingers in my ears, and the whole valley seems to be immersed in sunshine.

Langdon felt that the comparison of this scene to "hibernation" couldn't be more appropriate. The valley was like a cat. This cat grew very big and lived a comfortable and comfortable life.Langdon and Otto heard the sound, and the sound merged into a pleasant hum, like snoring in deep sleep.Langdon stared into the binoculars, keeping a close eye on the goat, which stood alert on the cliff.

"I saw a grizzly bear the size of a house!" suddenly Otto said softly.

Otto usually looks poised and calm.Such exciting-sounding news, he said casually, as if discussing a bouquet of violets.

Langdon sat up straight with a jerk.

"Where?" he asked.

Langdon bent down, looking where Otto's telescope pointed.Suddenly, every nerve in his body trembled.

"It's on the other side of the valley, on the slope of the second shoulder, do you see it?" Otto asked, squinting one eye, the other still staring at the telescope, "it's halfway up the mountain, planning What about gophers?"

Langdon focused the telescope lens on the slope.After a while, he was short of breath, extremely excited.

"See it?" Otto asked again.

"The telescope lens has brought it in front of me, less than four feet away!" Langdon replied. "Otto, this is the largest grizzly bear in the Rocky Mountains!"

"If it's not the biggest, it must have a twin brother."

Otto sat there motionless, just giggling, "It's twelve feet tall, eight feet taller than you, Langdon! And..." He paused, took a piece of black bread from his pocket, and took a bite. , but without taking his eyes off the telescope for a moment, he continued, "Besides, the wind is in our favour, and it is very busy!"

Otto stretched his crossed legs and stood up.Langdon stood up quickly as well.

Under such circumstances, there is always a tacit understanding between the two of them, and there is no need for many words.They led the eight horses back to the edge of the woods, where they were tethered, and each took their guns from their holsters and carefully loaded six rounds in the chambers.Then, in just 2 minutes, they carefully observed the slope and studied the route to approach it.

"We could sneak up into the ravine," Langdon suggested.

Otto nodded.

"I reckon the shot was three hundred yards from there," Otto said. "That's all we can do. If we got under it, the wind would be in its favor. Had it been a few hours ago, it would have How wonderful!"

"Then climb over the mountain and shoot at it from above!" Langdon exclaimed. "Otto, you're the dumbest idiot on earth when it comes to climbing! To hunt a goat from the top down Well, you'd rather go over Hardesty or Gika than take it easy from the bottom of the valley. Luckily it's not morning and we can catch the bear from the direction of the valley!"

"Perhaps," said Otto.They started to act.

Langdon and Otto walked boldly across the grassy and flowery meadow ahead.

As long as you're half a mile away from a grizzly there's no danger because grizzly eyes can't see.

The wind turned, almost blowing in the face.They walked briskly at first, then trotted, and quickly approached the slope so that they could reach the foot of the hill in 15 minutes.The hill is huge and hides the grizzly bear.After another 10 minutes, they reached the deep valley.For hundreds of years, spring snow has gushed down from the snow peaks and scoured the slopes, making the valleys narrow and steep, with scattered rocks.They stood there watching the grizzly bear carefully.

The grizzly was on the slope, about three hundred yards from the nearest point of the ravine.

"Langdon, you go ahead and round him up," Otto whispered, "if you miss or just wound him, the grizzly will react in two or three different ways:
It will stare at you, or it will immediately run up the fault, or follow the road into the valley.There's nothing we can do to stop it from escaping to the fault zone.If it attacks you, knock it over into the ravine.You can beat it.If you don't manage to catch it, it's most likely to go this way, and I'll be right here waiting.Good luck, Langdon! "

After Otto finished speaking, he went out and squatted behind a rock, where he could observe the grizzly's every move.

Langdon began to creep quietly toward the rocky ravine.

(End of this chapter)