The Cave of Gold | Page 6

like coals of fire, his strong jaws
snapping and growling, and his huge paws striking furiously in the
direction of Thure, did make a sight to chill the marrow in the bones of
any man.
Thure, now that he was so close to the bear that he could have touched
him with the muzzle of his rifle, realized that, in his haste, he had done
a fool-hardy thing; but he was not the kind of a lad to back down from
a position once taken, not until he had to do so, and, quickly bringing
his rifle to his shoulder, he waited until the swaying body presented a
fatal spot to his aim, pulled the trigger, and leaped backward from the
bear.
It was fortunate for Thure that he made that backward jump; for, at the
crack of his rifle, El Feroz made such a tremendous lunge toward him,
that the creaking limb bent nearly double, and, with a sound like the
report of a gun, broke off close to the trunk and crashed to the ground
on top of the grizzly.
For a moment El Feroz lay stunned by his wounds and fall and the
crash of the heavy limb; and then, with a roar, he struggled to his feet,
just as Bud jerked Gray Cloud to a halt not a rod away, and, instantly
throwing his rifle to his shoulder, fired. Even then the ferocious beast
plunged desperately toward his new enemy, staggering blindly, and fell
dead on the exact spot where Thure had stood.
"Jumping buffaloes, but that was a narrow escape for you, Thure!" and,
throwing himself out of his saddle, Bud rushed up to where Thure
stood, white and trembling, now that the danger was over, not ten feet
from where the bear lay dead.
"But, we've got him! Got El Feroz himself!" and the blood surged back
to Thure's face. "The biggest grizzly in all California! Say, but won't
the Mexicans and the Indians think we are great hunters now? And

won't Ruth and Iola stare, when we throw down the hide of El Feroz in
front of them to-night?"
No wonder Thure felt a little vainglorious over their achievement; for
there was not a hunter in all that country who would not have
considered the killing of El Feroz the crowning exploit of his life, so
great had become the monster grizzly's reputation for savage ferocity
and fearlessness of man.
"Well, I reckon we won't do any more hunting to-day," Bud declared,
as he began swiftly reloading his rifle. In that country at that time no
experienced hunter ever allowed his rifle to remain unloaded a moment
longer than was necessary. "When we get the hide off that monster, it
will be time to be starting for home," and his eyes turned to the dead
grizzly. "Whew, but isn't he a whopper! I'll bet that he will weigh
nearly a ton! You are right, the girls will be surprised some, when we
throw down that hide in front of them," and his face flushed a little at
the thought of the glory that would soon be theirs. "But, come, now that
our guns are loaded, let's get busy with our knives and get this big hide
off," and, pulling out his hunting-knife from its sheath, he bent over the
huge carcass of El Feroz.
"I'll be with you as soon as I free Buck," and Thure, slipping the noose
of his reata off the hind leg of the dead grizzly and coiling it around his
arm, hastened to where his gallant little horse still stood; and, after
fastening the rope in its place on the pommel of the saddle, he hurried
back to where Bud was bending over the grizzly.
There was no need of tying their horses. All the rope required to hold
them fast was the rope of love they bore their young masters, and so the
two animals were left free, while the two boys busied themselves
getting the pelt off the bear.
The skinning of a grizzly bear, especially when the bear is as huge and
as tough as was El Feroz, is no light undertaking; but Thure and Bud
were no novices at this kind of labor, and, after half an hour's hard
work, the great pelt was off and stretched out on the ground, skin side
up.

"There, I am glad that job is done!" Thure exclaimed, with satisfaction,
as he wiped his bloody knife on the grass. "Say, but he sure was a
whopper!" and his eyes glanced exultantly over the great hide, now
looking larger than ever as it lay spread out on the grass. "Great Moses,
look at all those old bullet marks!--Fifteen of them! No wonder that
Mexican Juan thought El Feroz was protected by