After some delay Grimsby and his friends forced the gate,—for the case seemed urgent,—and found an odd state of affairs prevailing within. In one corner of the yard was a sow with a large litter of young pigs. To these Napoleon was paying assiduous attentions. But for each one that he seized he was forced to fight a pitched battle with the sow, which, in defense of her young, attacked him with great intrepidity, squealing and clacking her jaws in a most ferocious manner. With a stroke of his paw the bear was able to prostrate the sow, but immediately she was on her feet again, quite as fierce as before.
There was such an uproar that the rescue party did not at first notice what had become of the people of the house till they heard them calling out from the roof.
The man, a French trader, had a gun, the flint-lock of which he was endeavoring to put in order. He had fired once, but had failed to do the bear much injury. The trader’s wife, children and two or three female servants were behind him on the roof, and they all besought the arksmen to drive out the bear and save their poor pigs.
Grimsby and Moses laid hold of the chain and tried to pull Napoleon away, but he had become excited in the affray with the sow. He was bleeding from several slight wounds; and, moreover, had had a taste of young pork. He turned upon his masters so savagely that they were obliged to let him go, but they finally succeeded in driving him out of the enclosure.
Attracted by the clamor, a considerable crowd had collected in the street outside the gate, and when the bear rushed forth another hubbub rose. Napoleon ran up Market Street, however, which was then a mere country lane, and escaped through the broken gate of the stockade which enclosed the hamlet.
Outside the stockade there were clearings, fifty or sixty acres in extent, where the people raised wheat, corn and vegetables. It was while cultivating these crops a few years before that the settlers were surprised by the savages from the British post at Michilimackinac during the American Revolution. Across this cleared tract Napoleon was now escaping. On reaching the gateway of the stockade, Lewis caught sight of his shaggy black coat as he bounded over the charred logs that still encumbered the fields.
They all gave chase after him, for Grimsby was very desirous of presenting him to Major Stoddard; but the bear ran fast and reached the woods. For the time being, at least, he appeared to have had more than enough of civilization and its dubious luxuries—including young pigs with savage mothers. Lewis and Moses called after him in most endearing accents, but he still ran on. They could hear his long chain jingle as it dragged over logs; and now and then they sighted him, but could not overtake him.
Thinking, however, that he would stop after awhile, they followed on for several miles, through what was then a virgin forest of chestnut, walnut and sycamore.
At last they crossed a creek and saw the bear ascending a hill. Near the top of this hill they came upon him, hung up hard and fast by his chain, the ring in the end of which had caught between two fallen tree trunks. He was panting hard, and appeared to have had all the exercise he desired. He licked Moses’ hand when the boy patted his head, and went back with them in a very docile frame of mind to the governor’s house.
The arksmen were far too desirous of reaching home to dally longer than was necessary in St. Louis. Having landed his passenger according to agreement, and disposed of his venture in coffee and sugar, Captain Royce lost no time in returning down the river. He was not sorry to part company with the waggish Grimsby, whose propensity for practical joking rendered companionship with him both embarrassing and unsafe.