Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1862-11-21
The Hear and the Horse.

The Bear and the Horse.
The bear was slowly crawling out Of the
ravine, and when first saw him was drag
ging his huge body over the escarpment Of
the cliff. In . moment he stood erect upon
the open plain. / was filled with new con-
I saw too surely that he was about
to attack my horse.
The latter had already observed the bears
and seemed to be fully aware of his
danger, / stalked him at the distance flour
hundred yards from the barranca, and upon a
lasso of about twenty feet in length. At the
sight of the bear, he had run. out to tho end
of his trail rope, and was snorting aud plung-
ing with alright. ., s5t ,e-a
This now dilemma arrested my steps. and
I stood with anxious feeling to watch the re.
suit. had no hope Of being able to- yield the
slightest aid to my poor horse-at least, none
occurred to me at that moment. -.
The bear made directly towards him, and
my heart throbbed wildly as l beheld the
fierce monster almost within clawing distance.
The horse sprang round, however, and gal
Hoped upon circle of which the lasso was the
radius. knew, from the hard jerks he had
already given to the rope, that there was no
chance Of its yielding and setting him free.
No; it was raw hide lasso of the toughest
thong. knew its power, and l remembered
how firmly had driven home the picket pin.
This had now cause to regret. What would
not have given to have drawn the blade of
my knife acrGas that rope! -. 3D..
l continued to watch the struggle with a
painful feeling Of suspense. The horse still
kept out Of reach by galloping around the
circumference Of the circle, while the bear
made his attacks by crossing its cords, rum
ming in circles of less diameter. The whole
scene bore resemblance to an act of the Hip
podrome, the bear taking the part of the ring
master.
Once twice, the rope circling round, quite
taut, caught upon the legs of the bear, and
after carrying it along with it for some dis.
lance flung him on his back, s5ils-7ss 10
This seemed to add to his rage, and after
doubled fury. l might have been amused
at the singular spectacle, but my mind was
too painfully agitated about the result '7
The scene continued for some minutes with
out much change in the relative position Ct
the actors. began to hope that the bear
might be batfled, after all, and finding the
horse too nimble for him, would give over
his attempts, particularly as noticed the
latter administer several kicks that might
have discounted any other assailant; but
these only rendered the bear more savage and
revengeful.
Just at this moment the scene assumed q
new phase, likely to bring about the denoue.
ment. The rope had once more pressed
against the bear; but this time, instead Of
trying to avoid it, he seized it in his teeth
and paws. thought he was going to cut it
and this was exactly what wished for; bu,
no--to my CONSERVATION, saw that he was
crawling along it by constantly renewing biz
hold, and thus gradually crawling nearer
to his victim. The horse now screamed with
terror
Icould bear it no longer. 1 remembered
that had left my rife near the edge Of tn,
barran ca. l ran forward to the cliff, ant
dashed madly down its face l climbed tn,
opposite steep, and clutching the gun, rushed
toward the scene of strife. was still ir
time; the bear bad not yet reached his vic
tim, though now within less than six feet o
him. advanced within ten PAGES, and fred
As though my shot had cut the thong, it CAV,
way at the moment; and the horse way a
the moment; and the horse, witha wild neigh
sprang off into the prairie. -.
Ihad hit the bear, as afterwards ascertained
but not in q vital part, and my bullet had nj
more effect than if it had been a drop of snip,
shot. 1t was tho strength of despair tina
had broken the rope and set free the steed.
1t was my turn now for the bear, as soor
as he perceived that the horse had
escaped him. rushed forward upon NE, utter
ing loud cry. had Nd choice but fight
l had no time to reload. struck the brut
once with my dubbed rifle, and, flinging tn,
gun away, grasped the reader knife Will
the strong keen blade-the knife was a bowl
- l struck out before me; but the next mo
ment felt myself grappled and held fast
The sharp claws tore up my flesh, one CLAW
was griped over my hips, another rested OF
my shoulder, while the white teeth cleaned be
fore my eyes. Ny knife-srm was free
had watched this when graphing, and with
all the energy of despair, plunged the keer
blade between the ribs of my antagonist
Mayne Reds i" War Trail"