Chapter Twenty.
A Bear Hunt in Winter—Mustagan a Famous Indian Guide—Bears’ Den—How discovered—Boys’ Perplexity—The Journey to the Den—A Cold Morning—The Telltale Column of Steam—The Attempt to dig down to the Bears—Total Failure—Successful Tunnelling Operations—Exciting Fight in the Icy Cavern—The Battles between the Men and Dogs and the Escaping Bears.
A Bear hunt in winter! No wonder the boys were excited when they heard of it. Yes, that was what it was, and a very interesting one at that.
Mustagan was a famous hunter, as we have already seen. In addition to that, he was a wonderful guide, and had also been a great traveller. He had gone several times on great expeditions to the Arctic Ocean. He was with Sir John Richardson on his memorable search for Sir John Franklin. He had also gone with Dr Rae and others on similar Arctic exploring trips. Then this Mustagan was the old Cree Indian who found the silver spoons and other remains of Sir John Franklin among the Eskimos. Their recovery gave the final definite knowledge of the tragic ending of that memorable expedition. These relics of that sad expedition, in which about a hundred and forty of the bravest of men perished, some of whom might have been saved if Paulette had been true, are now in the Greenwich Museum.
But although Mustagan had been long years thus employed he was yet in the full vigour of life, and as a hunter was unexcelled. He was, like Big Tom, particularly noted for his skill as a moose hunter, and it was when out on the tracks of a moose that he made the singular discovery that led to this bear hunt in winter. When he came over to Sagasta-weekee with the news that he had some rare sport for the boys they were, of course, full of curiosity to get all the information.
During the previous summer they had all had their peculiar experiences in bear fights, but this finding of bears in winter was a revelation, as they were always taught that the bears, especially in cold countries, hibernate during the winter; that is, that they den up in some quiet retreat in the rocks, if possible, and there remain in a semi-unconscious condition for months together. They generally go in very fat, and on this fat they keep alive all winter.
“Is it true,” said Sam to Mustagan, “that a bear sucks his paws like a baby does his thumb?”
“That is what is believed by the Indians,” said the old man. “But,” he added, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, “I don’t remember any one of us ever having sat up to watch one doing it.”