New strings were put on and thoroughly
waxed. Our arrows were straightened, their feathers dried and preened
in the sun. The broad-heads were set on straight and sharpened to the
last degree, and so prepared we determined to do our utmost. We were
ready for the big fellow.
In our reconnaissance we found that he was a real killer. His trail was
marked by many bloody episodes. It seemed quite probable that he was
the bear that two years before burst in upon a party of surveyors in
the mountains and kept them treed all night. It is not unlikely that he
was the same bear that caused the death of Jack Walsh. He seemed too
expert in planning murder. We saw by his tracks how he lay in ambush
watching a herd of elk, how he sneaked up on a mother elk and her
recently born calf on the outskirts of the band, and with a great leap
threw himself upon the two and killed them.
In several places we saw the skins of these little wapiti licked clean
and empty of bodily structure. No other male grizzly was permitted to
enter his domain. He was, in fact, the monarch of the mountain, the
great bear of Dunraven Pass.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303