CHAPTER XX

ROPING A BEAR

The round-up was drawing to its close. Most of the country to be ridden had already been covered and, as Joe said, scraped of cattle as if they had gone over it with a fine-tooth comb. McIntyre was an excellent cow man, and besides keeping his men up to their work he himself had covered much ground and had satisfied himself that his crew had been faithful and thorough. Most of the cattle had been sent off in bunches to their home ranges, and now only one day more of riding was to be done, over a rolling country among the foothills of the low mountains.

On this last day, Jack, Donald, Vicente and Tulare Joe were covering a stretch of country among the foothills. The ground was open, and so rolling that the riders could see one another only occasionally, yet still could keep track of one another's movements pretty well. Donald, who still occupied the position of pupil, though he had made good progress, rode pretty close to Jack and was often within hailing distance of him. There were not many cattle here, and only a few had been gathered, which Donald was driving along, trying to keep up with the other riders and yet not to hurry his cattle.

As Jack rode up toward the crest of a ridge rather higher than most of the hogbacks coming down from the hills, he looked off to the west and saw something that made him rein in his horse. A rider, too far off to be recognized, but whom he knew must be Vicente, was riding in a circle and at the same time signaling with his hat.

Jack knew, of course, that this was a call to him to come, and he started at once; on his way picking up Donald, whom he told to leave his cattle and to come over to Vicente. Before they reached him, Joe had joined Vicente, and the two waited for Jack and Donald.

When the four had got together, Vicente motioned toward the ridge before them.

"Big bear over this hill; suppose we try catch him."

"Whoop!" cried Jack. "That will be more fun than a goat! But have we got the ropes to tie him, if we do catch him?"

"I guess we can make out," said Joe. "Vicente and me have our macates, and if we can get him fairly stretched, they ought to do for his hind legs and his mouth. If we can catch him close to some timber there'll be no trouble to tie him up, but if we get him in the flat country where there's nothing to tie him to, we're liable to kill him. I've heard how they used to catch bears in California, but I never saw it done myself, though I've heard the story over and over again. Maybe Vicente has seen it done. How's that, Vicente?"

"Yes," grinned Vicente, "in my country, sometimes they catch it bear--make him fight bull. Suppose we had big rawhide here; no trouble to catch it bear and take him to camp."

"You two fellows will have to tell Donald and me what to do," said Jack. "We are green at this sort of thing; but if you will tell us, we will do the best we can--eh, Donald?"

The young Englishman's eyes snapped as he nodded.

"Well," decided Joe, "I reckon the best thing to do is to charge the bear together. I think that Vicente has the best horse and will get to him first. Then, if he can catch him by the neck, I'll try to pick up one or both of his hind feet, and then you two fellows will have to do the rest. The main thing, of course, is to keep him from getting one of the ropes in his mouth, for if he does that he'll just naturally chew it off and we'll be short a man."

"But," asked Donald, "will these horses go up so close to a bear that you can rope it?"

"I know that Vicente's will," answered Joe; "Vicente makes his horses go wherever he wants them to; and I expect that my horse will be all right, and so will Jack's. I don't know about yours, Donald. Guess it will depend a great deal on its rider. Now before we get ready to charge the bear, we must tighten our saddles, and see that everything is in good shape; we don't want to have a saddle slip after we get our ropes on the bear. Might be kind of unhandy for a man to be left afoot there."

The boys dismounted, loosened their cinches, pulled forward the blankets, tightened the cinches again, saw to it that their ropes were well arranged, and then everything was ready. Vicente turned his horse and rode toward the ridge, and the others followed a little behind him.

Presently Vicente took off his hat, checked his horse and, letting it go forward only a step or two at a time, scanned the country before him. After a few moments it was evident that he saw something. He bent low and backed his horse down the slope, rode a few hundred yards nearer to the higher hills on the right and then stopped.

"Bear pretty close now; just over ridge."

He started on a gallop toward the crest of the hill; the others followed only a little behind him; and in a moment all of them were sweeping down the gentle slope toward a great brown animal, which for a moment stood on its hind legs looking at them. Almost at once it dropped on all fours and raced off at great speed across the flat and toward another ridge on which grew a few gnarled and stunted cedars.

The horses were now going at their best gait, down the slope, across the dry wash near which the bear had been standing, and over the level flat on the other side. Vicente's horse had put on a burst of speed that astonished the other boys. It was rapidly overhauling the bear, and by the time it had gone about three-quarters of the way up on the opposite slope Vicente was swinging his rope. In a moment he threw forward his hand and, checking his horse, the bear turned a somersault and struck the ground with a sound heard by all of them. For a moment the animal lay still, apparently stunned by the shock, and then, springing to its feet, it charged furiously down the hill toward Vicente, whose horse still stood there motionless. Jack saw Vicente coolly shortening the rope, and then the little horse made a sidewise rush and again the bear flew head over heels. At that moment Tulare Joe caught the hind feet; and the bear, notwithstanding its great strength, was fairly stretched out between the two little horses, which were almost sitting down on the ground in their resistance to the pull of the two ropes.

There was little time for observation. Quick action was needed now; action which would render the bear powerless and would enable Vicente to free the rope which was about the bear's neck and would soon choke it to death.

"Try to catch the right fore leg, and I'll catch the left!" Jack called to Donald; and riding close to the bear he caught the left foot, and backing his horse away put a heavy pull on it. Donald had failed to catch the bear's right fore foot, and was slowly recovering his rope. He looked as if he did not know what to do. Meanwhile, the bear was throwing its right fore leg up over its head and hooking it in Vicente's rope in the effort to free its head, and Jack feared lest the long claws might cut the rope or fray it so that it would break. If the bear's head and one fore leg were free, it would be a difficult matter to hold it, for it would readily cut the rope that held the left fore leg. Vicente recognized this danger before any one, and every time the bear hooked its right leg over the rope, Vicente slacked up a little, so that the bear's leg and foot slipped off the rope, and as soon as this happened Vicente quickly backed his horse away, until the rope was taut again.

Seeing to it that his own rope was securely fastened to his saddle-horn, Jack tumbled off his horse, and ran swiftly around by the bear's head, jumped over Vicente's rope and came to the bear's right side. He had beckoned to Donald, who rode up close to him. Seizing the loop of Donald's rope, he waited until the bear's foot was free, threw a small loop over it and told Donald to make the rope fast to the saddle-horn and back away strongly. Donald was riding a good cow horse, but it was evidently afraid of a bear and objected strongly to coming close to this one. However, its rider at last drove it up close enough to get his hands on the rope, and when the horse found that it was holding something, it seemed to gain confidence. Though snorting and uneasy, with pricked ears, it nevertheless remained quite still and held the right fore leg so that the bear could not move it.

"There!" cried Jack, "I guess we have got him!"

All this had been done in a very short time. While it was happening, Tulare Joe had left his horse and run around to the bear's head, and now with Jack's assistance he made a sort of hackamore of his macate and, binding the loose ends firmly around the bear's jaws, turned to Vicente and threw up his hand. Vicente at once slacked up on his rope and Joe loosened it. It had cut deep into the bear's neck.

For a moment or two the bear lay motionless. Donald supposed it was dead until Joe, stepping around to one side, pressed his foot heavily on the animal's chest close behind the outstretched fore leg and the air from the lungs came whistling through the bear's mouth and nostrils. A moment later the animal gasped for breath, and after two or three intervals began to breathe regularly, and then to struggle. It threw its head violently from side to side, and its little eyes snapped with fury, while it uttered muffled grunts and groans. The boys stood near its head watching its efforts to free itself from the ropes. It could move only its head which it threw from side to side and up and down, beating it against the ground in its impotent efforts.

"Hadn't we better get on our horses?" suggested Donald. "Suppose one of these ropes breaks, or a horse yields a little."

"No danger," said Joe; "the ropes and the horses are all right."

Vicente sat on his horse looking down at the bear.

"Pretty soon he goin' die."

"Why will he die?" asked Jack. "What's going to kill him?"

"He get pretty mad," answered Vicente. "So mad can't live any longer. You see."

The words were scarcely out of Vicente's mouth, when the bear gave a great bawl and then lay still, except for a few convulsive quivers. As Vicente had foretold, he had died of rage. The boys watched him closely, and gradually they saw his eyes grow dull.

"Well," said Jack, "I'm sorry that the old fellow died. It seems as if it would have been better for him to have been killed by a bullet than to die in this way."

"Yes," responded Donald, "it does seem sort of an ignominious death to be caught and stretched out on the prairie like this, perfectly helpless. On the other hand, if he had ever gotten a wipe at one of our horses with those paws of his, I am afraid that there would not have been much left of the horse."

"We may as well get our ropes back again," said Joe, "and go ahead about our business. Do you boys want to take off the hide? It'll make a pretty good robe for one of you."

"I should like very much to have it, if nobody else wants it," said Donald. "How do you feel about it, Jack?"

"Why," replied Jack, "if you want it, you had better have it, and Joe and me here will help you take the hide off. It's no joke to skin a bear. It takes a long time and is hard work, and you get covered with grease while you're doing it. However, we may as well pitch in and get it out of the way."

"Well," drawled Vicente; "me, I goin' off to look for cattle; when you get ready, suppose you come along."

"All right," answered Jack. "It won't take us very long. We will put the hide on Donald's horse, and then Joe and I will hurry on to catch up with you."

Nevertheless, it was nearly an hour before the hide was freed from the carcass and done up in as compact a bundle as possible; and then ten or fifteen minutes more had to be devoted to the work of getting it on Donald's horse, for the animal wholly objected to the smell of the load. At last, however, the work was completed and Donald mounted; but no sooner had the blind been lifted from the horse's eyes than it began to pitch, and so furiously and long that the boys feared that Donald might be thrown and hurt. They threw their ropes over the horse's head, and called to Donald to dismount. He did not greatly care to do this, but finally did so, and the boys advised him to turn about and go home, leading his horse at least for a mile or two before attempting to mount it. They would go on and finish their circle, and would then come around to the camp.

Before he began his walk to camp Donald saw the other boys mount their horses and ride off over the hills. As soon as he started, his horse began to make trouble for him. It began by bucking hard at the end of the rope, and Donald was somewhat uneasy lest either the strings which bound the hide on the horse's back should stretch, or come loose, or else the saddle should shift. In this case he would lose his hide, for once on the ground it was not likely that one man could tie it on the horse again. Fortunately, everything held, for Tulare Joe before leaving him had carefully gone over all the fastenings. Even after the horse had ceased bucking, it was very uneasy, looking back at its load and trying to bolt, or occasionally swerving from side to side and dragging Donald about on the end of the rope. He had not had sufficient experience with a rope to understand how to hold a horse effectively, and sometimes he was dragged along, with arms outstretched, for a number of yards over the prairie, before the horse yielded to the pull of the rope. A man of greater experience would readily have stopped the horse in a number of its rushes by throwing his right hand behind his hip and then leaning back against the rope, but Donald had not yet learned how to do this and during his long walk back to camp he suffered much discomfort because of his lack of knowledge.

Two or three times he thought that he would mount his horse; but each time the beast threatened trouble, so that Donald feared he might lose his bear skin off the saddle; and now, since he had worked so hard to save it, he was determined that he would take no risks about it. It occurred to him also that if his horse should get away from him and should run to camp and in among the cávaya, the loose horses would be certain to stampede, and might be scattered far over the prairie. It seemed better to walk the whole way than to take a risk such as this.

So he kept walking; and it was a hot, dirty and weary young Englishman who at length reached the camp. He tied his rope short to a wagon wheel and took the bear skin from his horse, and then unsaddled and turned loose the animal.

It was some hours later when Vicente, Jack and Tulare Joe reached camp with a small bunch of cattle.