On the 5th September, he and Sabine were on their way to the trench,
when they heard loud growls. They stood still and listened.
“It’s no reindeer making that noise, “said Marbre, “I know well
enough what creature has fallen into our pit.”
“A bear?” replied Sabine.
“Yes,” said Marbre, whose eyes glistened with delight.
“Well,” remarked Sabine, “we won’t grumble at that, bears’
steaks are as good as reindeers’, and we get the fur in! Come
along.”
The two hunters were armed. They quickly slipped balls into their
guns, which were already loaded with lead, and hurried to the trap.
The see-saw plank had swung back into its place, but the bait had
disappeared, having probably been dragged down, into the trench. The
growls became louder and fiercer, and looking down the hunters saw that
it was indeed a bear they had taken. A huge mass was huddled together
in one corner of the pit, looking in the gloom like a pile of white fur
with two glittering eyes. The sides of the trench had been ploughed up
by the creature’s sharp claws, and had they been made of earth instead
of ice, it would certainly have managed to scramble out, but it could
get no hold on the slippery surface, and it had only managed to enlarge
its prison, not to escape from it.
Under the circumstances the capture was easy. Two balls carefully aimed
put an end to the bear’s life, and the next thing to do was to get it
out of the pit. The two hunters returned to the fort for reinforcements,
and ten of the soldiers, provided with ropes, returned with them. It was
not without considerable difficulty that the body was hauled up. It was
a huge creature, six feet long, weighing six hundred pounds, and must
have possessed immense strength. It belonged to the sub-order of white
bears, and had the flattened head, long neck, short and slightly
curved claws, narrow muzzle, and smooth white fur characteristic of the
species. The edible portions of this valuable animal were confided to
Mrs Joliffe, and by her carefully prepared for the table.
The next week the traps were in full activity. Some twenty martens were
taken, in all the beauty of their winter clothing, but only two or three
foxes. These cunning creatures divined the snare laid for them, and
scratching up the ground near the trap, they often managed to run off
with the bait without being caught. This made Sabine beside himself
with rage "for,” he said, “such a subterfuge was unworthy of a
respectable fox.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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