During the early months of the California gold fever the brig Janet entered the harbor of San Francisco. Her freight was intended to supply the wants of the diggers, and it was the most extraordinary cargo that was ever put into the hold of any seagoing vessel, except, indeed, those vessels which sailed to California at this particular time.
There were pickaxes and shovels, powder and boots, needles and coffee, spikes and tea, horseshoes and tobacco; there were wooden houses ready to be put up; canvas tents and mattresses; there were jackknives, hatchets, revolvers, rifles, socks, books, hats, clothes, barrels of flour, soap, coal, towels, sugar, potatoes, grindstones, locks, quack medicines, old periodicals, cheap watches, buttons, cotton, glass, tape, bottles, jewsharps, nails, rubbers; and everything else that the imaginative mind of a wild speculator could possibly think of as being likely to sell to a young and rich but destitute community.
Whether the speculation was successful or not, is no business of ours. My business is with Tom Allan, the cabin boy of the Janet.
The Janet took out about fifty passengers on their way to the gold diggings. Allan was a stout lad of about seventeen. When he left home he had no idea of digging gold, but the talk of the passengers on the way out fairly turned the heads of the crew of the Janet, and even of the officers, so that when the brig reached San Francisco, and the passengers landed, the entire crew, together with the cook, the second mate, and even the first mate, landed with them.
The captain was left alone with the cabin boy. The captain was in despair. He couldn't get anybody to unload his vessel. He couldn't get any crew to take her away. And so the end of it was that Allan yielded to the universal feeling and took his departure from the ship.
For about a year he led a queer kind of a life. He worked at various diggings without much success, until at length he got possession of a claim all to himself, in a remote locality, which he proceeded to work at with desperate determination.
He erected a little hut, and made himself as comfortable as possible, and set to work vigorously, and soon found, to his great delight, that the claim was one of unusual richness.
At last, then, after more than a year of adverse fortune, he saw his way to success.
One day he was hard at work. He had found a rich vein of quartz in which the gold was very plentiful, so much so, indeed, that it was possible for him to extract it by his own clumsy tools without having recourse to a crushing mill.
He had that day been drilling a hole to make ready for a blast, and was working away diligently with his drill. The hole was just finished, when suddenly he was startled by a deep and formidable growl close behind him.
So great was the shock of this unexpected interruption, that the drill dropped from his hands, and he turned around in horror. That horror was increased by the sight that he saw. For there, not a dozen yards away, was a monstrous grizzly bear--one of the largest of his species, crouching low, and regarding him with eyes that gleamed like coals of fire.
One look was enough. The next instant, without stopping to take a second glance, Allan darted off with the mad speed of one who is running for life, while the huge bear came springing after him.
Such a race as that, if prolonged, could have had but one termination; and this Allan knew but too well.
As he ran, therefore, he looked all around to see if there was any chance of escape. But there was none whatever. There was no high cliff up which he might climb--no narrow crevice in the rocks where he might seek shelter.
The country was a barren one, with rocks of different sizes scattered about, here and there. Among these there did not appear anything that offered a hope of escape from the ravening monster that pursued him.
At last, as he looked despairingly around, he saw one thing which offered a faint prospect of escape. It was an enormous granite boulder which arose in the midst of the plain, surrounded by smaller boulders.
This one was about thirty feet high, and its sides were smooth and convex. In front of this grew a slender tree, and Allan thought that if he could climb the tree, he might be able to get upon the boulder and set his enemy at defiance.
There was no time to lose, so he at once acted upon this idea. He rushed to the tree, seizing it with the grasp of despair, and by vigorous exertions climbed to the top.
Here he was on a level with the top of the granite boulder, and was able, by a violent effort, to get upon it. The top of the boulder was flat, and it had been roughened and scarred and worn by the storms of centuries, so that Allan found a firm foothold.
The moment that he reached this place of refuge he turned to look at his enemy.
The grizzly bear was close behind him, and as Allan turned he beheld him grasping the tree and trying to climb. But the tree was too slender for the enormous limbs of the bear. He could not grasp it firmly. As the bear began to perceive this, he growled wrathfully and ominously, and finally desisted from the attempt.
But he did not desist from his pursuit. On the contrary he drew back a few feet, and sitting on his hind quarters, he regarded Allan with a look of grim and patient watchfulness that was terrible to encounter.
On finding that the bear could not climb the tree, Allan experienced a feeling of relief so great that his fear and despair departed. He accordingly looked down calmly upon his enemy, and expected that in a short time he would give up his pursuit and go away. But the bear did nothing of the kind. As long as Allan looked at him, he looked at Allan, and showed a power of patient watchfulness that was in the highest degree creditable to his bearship, but in the last degree distressing to Allan.
Hours passed, and Allan gave up all ideas of escape for that night. He therefore prepared to pass the night as best he could. After all it was not uncomfortable. The rock was hard, it is true, but Allan's California life had habituated him to hard beds, so that he could sleep even here. And sleep he did. Slumber came over him after sunset, and he slept on as only a California miner can, until some time after sunrise.
On awaking his first thoughts were about his enemy. Slowly and cautiously he raised his head and looked down. That one short glance was enough. For there, in the same place, lay the grizzly bear, with his head upraised in such a way that his fierce, keen eyes encountered those of Allan as he looked anxiously down. At this sight Allan sank back, and a feeling of utter despair came over him.
He was both hungry and thirsty. His bones also were sore from a sleep on this rough resting place, and the misery of his confinement affected his mind. But what could he do? Again and again the question occurred, What could he do?
In his despair there at last came to him one idea which held out to him a chance of escape. It was a very original idea, and could only have occurred to one like him in his last extremity.
He had no arms, but he had his horn full of blasting powder, and in his pockets he had also his blasting fuse. He had matches also.
Now, though he had no firearms, yet in these he had the material by which firearms gave all their efficiency. Necessity is the mother of invention, and so Allan's dire necessity roused all the inventive faculty of his mind.
It was a plan which could only be tried once. If it failed he was lost; if it succeeded he was saved. He could not wait; so he at once prepared to put his plan in execution.
He took his powder-horn, filled as it was with blasting powder, and in this he inserted a piece of blasting fuse.
It thus became a bomb shell, roughly made, it is true, yet none the less effective for all that. Then he took off his shirt, and tearing it up into small ribbons, he formed a long line. Fastening this to the horn he lighted the fuse, and then slowly lowered it.
At this extraordinary proceeding, all the well-known curiosity of the bear was aroused. He watched the horn solemnly, as it descended, and then as it came low down, he walked up to it and smelled it.
The smell of the burning fuse was offensive, and he expressed his disgust by a low growl.
At last the horn lay on the ground.
The bear was both puzzled and offended. He put his nose close down to it, and snuffed again and again at the butt of the horn. From above Allan watched with a quick-beating heart.
Suddenly there rang out a tremendous explosion, and a great cloud of smoke rolled up, hiding everything from view. Allan peered cautiously through this, but could see nothing for a long time.
But though nothing met his eyes, his ears were aware of a chaos of sounds--fierce growls of rage and pain--howls, shrieks and yells, all of which proved plainly that very severe damage had been done to somebody.
At last the smoke cleared away, and then Allan saw the bear. From his head, and breast, and forepaws the hair was all singed off; the skin was blackened to the hue of soot; his fiery eyes gleamed no more; they were tight shut, and with growls of agony the monster rushed frantically about, tossing, and jumping, and rolling over and over. The explosion had blinded him, and the fierce animal, in his blindness, presented a spectacle that was terrible to witness.
In his wild leaps and tumbles he went about in all directions, not knowing where. His agony had driven from him all thoughts of his late enemy.
Allan now sprang to the tree and quickly descended. He ran to his hut and seized his rifle and revolver. Then he hurried back. The bear was still writhing and rolling about in his blindness. One well directed shot, however, put an end to the monster's sufferings.
Allan did not care about remaining much longer in this place, but soon after he returned to San Francisco, bringing with him a sufficient amount of gold to satisfy his wishes, and with this he brought the skin of the grizzly bear.
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