[XIII.]
LOST IN THE WOODS
Continuation of the Reelfoot hunt—Starts a big fellow in the “harricane”—Snaking it through the brambles and fallen trees—Trees the bear and kills him, and misses his hunting-knife—His knife found by McDaniel—A terrible encounter with a bear after dark—Davy kills him with his knife in a deep chasm caused by the earthquakes—The dogs are badly mauled, and Davy is lost in the woods—He climbs up and down a smooth-barked tree all night to keep from freezing to death—Another ’quake follows—A total of fifty-eight bears in four months.
The “harricanes” so often referred to by Davy were undoubtedly the work of the earthquakes before described, together with the fierce wind-storms that seemed to be a part of the disturbances. The story of the Reelfoot hunting-trip goes on as follows:
“In the morning we left my son at the camp, and we started on towards the harricane; and when we had went about a mile, we started a very large bear, but we got along mighty slow on account of the cracks in the earth occasioned by the earthquakes. [These cracks, which may still be traced after the lapse of a hundred years, ran from southwest to northeast, and in many places great trees that had been split in the middle, stood with divided trunks above the chasms.]
“We, however, managed to keep within hearing of the dogs, for about three miles, and then we come to the harricane. Here we had to quit our horses, as old Nick himself couldn’t have got through it without sneaking along in the form he put on to make a fool of our old grandmother Eve. By this time several of my dogs had got tired and come back; but we went on ahead for some time in the harricane, when we met a bear coming straight to us, and not more than twenty or thirty yards off. I started my tired dogs after him, and McDaniel pursued them, and I went on to where my other dogs were. I had seen the track of the bear they were after, and I know’d he was a screamer.
“I followed on to about the middle of the harricane, but my dogs pursued him so close that they made him climb an old stump about twenty feet high. I got within shooting distance of him and fired, but I was all over in such a flutter from fatigue and running, that I couldn’t hold steady; but, however, I broke his shoulder, and he fell. I run up and loaded my gun as quick as possible, and shot him again and killed him. When I went to take out my knife to butcher him, I found I had lost it in coming through the harricane. The vines and briers was so thick that I would sometimes have to get down and crawl like a varment to get through at all; and a vine had, as I supposed, caught in the handle and pulled it out. While I was standing and studying what to do, my friend came to me. He had followed my trail through the harricane, and had found my knife, which was mighty good news to me, as a hunter hates the worst in the world to lose a good dog, or any part of his hunting tools. I now left McDaniel to butcher the bear, and went after the horses, and brought them as near as the nature of the case would allow. I then took our bags and went back to where he was; and when we had skinned the bear we fleeced off the fat and carried it to our horses in several loads. We then packed it upon our horses, and had a heavy load on each one. We now started and went on till about sunset, when I concluded we must be near our camp; so I hollered and my son answered me, and we moved on in the direction to the camp.
“We had gone but a little way when I heard my dogs make a warm start again; and I jumped down from my horse and gave him up to my friend, and told him I would follow them. He went on to the camp, and I went ahead after my dogs with all my might for a considerable distance, till at last night came on. The ground was very rough and hilly, and all covered over with cane. I now was compelled to move on more slowly; and was frequently falling over logs, and into the cracks of the earthquakes, so that I was very much afraid I would break my gun. However, I went about three miles, when I came to a good big creek, which I waded. It was very cold, and the creek was about knee-deep; but I felt no great inconvenience from it just then, as I was all over wet with sweat from running, and I felt hot enough. After I got over this creek, and out of the cane, which was very thick on all our creeks, I listened for my dogs. I found they had either treed or brought the bear to a stop, as they continued barking in the same place.
“I pushed on in the direction of the noise, as far as I could, till I found the hill was too steep for me to climb, and so I backed and went down the creek for some distance, till I came to a hollow, and took up that, till I came to a place where I could climb the hill. It was mighty dark, and it was difficult to see my way or anything else. When I got up the hill, I found I had passed the dogs, and so I turned and went to them. I found, when I got there, they had treed the bear in a large forked poplar, and it was setting in the fork.
“I could see the lump, but not plain enough to shoot with any certainty, as there was no moonlight; and so I set in to hunting for some dry bush to make me a light; but I could find none, though I could find that the ground was torn mightily to pieces by the cracks.