The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-04-10

brother a bear might carry them of,
and she charged him again that fore
noon not 10 go away from the house; but
he was an enterprising little fellow, and
when the sun shone so pleasant, and the
woods looked so inviting, he wasn't one
to be afraid of bears.
The woman stopped ! to see her
husband fall big beech be was cutting,
and then went back to the house: but
just before she got there, she saw the
oldest boy coming out of the woods on
the other side. He was alone. He was
white as sheet, and SO frightened at
first that he couldn't speak.
Johnny, says she, catching hold of
him, what is the matter?
ga bearp he gasped out at last.
"f Where is your little brother?' was
her next question.
"'I don't know said he, too much
frightened to know any thing Just then.
"' Where did you leave him?' says
she. ~
Then he seemed to have gotten his
him 7 said he.
You can guess what sort of an agony
the mother was in.
go Johnny, tell me truel Think
Where was it.?
"'In the woods he said. Bear
| come along,-l rum
She caught him np and hurried
with him into thezwoods. She begged
him to show her where he was with his
little brother when the bear came along.
He pointed out two or three places. In
| one of them thesearth was SOFT There
were fresh tracks crossing it,-bear
tracks. There was no doubt about it.
:" 1t was terrible situation for poor
woman Whether to follow the bear
and try 10 recover her child, or go at
once for her husband, or alarm the
| neighbors, what to do with Johnny
meanwbile,-aI that would have been
hard enough for her to decide even if
| she had had her wits about her. J
She hardly knew what she did, but
just followed her instinct, and ran with
Johnny in her arms, or dragging him
after her, to where her husband was
chopping.
Well,o continued the one-eyed
hostler, "I needn't try to describe what
followed. They went back to the house,
and Rush took his rife and started on
the track of the bear, vowing that he
would not come back without either the
child or the bears hide. m So
The news went like wildfre through
the settlement. In an hour halfa-dozen
men with their dogs were on the track
with Rush. 1t was so much trouble for
| him to follow the trail that they soon
overlook him with the help of the dogs.
:" But in spite of them the bear got
into the mountains. Two of the dogs
came up with him, and one. the My one
Lat could follow a scent, had his back
broken by stroke of his paw. After
that it was almost impossible to track
him, and one after another the hunters
gave up and returned home.
" At last Rush was left alone; but
| nothing could induce him to turn back.
He shot some small game ill the noun
tains, which he cooked for his supper,
slept on the ground, and started on the
trail again in the morning. -
Along in the forenoon he came in
sight of the bear as he was crossing a
stream. He had good sho. at him as
he was climbing the bank on the other
side. ff7 81
1.-THE bear kept on, but it was easier
tracking him after that by his blood.
I "That evening a hunter, haggard, his
clothes all in tatters, found his way to a
backwoodsman's hut over in Whites
Valley. 1t was Rush. He told his
story in a few words as he rested On a
stool. He had found no traces of his
child, but he had killed the bear. 1t
was Old Two Claws. He had left him
| on the hills, and came to the settlement
for help.
"The hunt had taken him round
about course, and he was then not more
than seven miles from home. The next
strapped on bis back,-the carcass had
man,-he started to return by an easier
way through the woods.
" 1t was sad revenge he had had, but
| there was a grim sort of satisfactioh in
Juggling home the hide of the terrible
Old Two Claws.
" As he came in sight of his log house
out ran his wife to meet him, with
what do you suppose 7-ittle Johnny
dragging at her skirts, and the lost child
in her arms.
"Then, for the first time, the man
dropped; but he didn't get down any
further than his knees, He clung to his
wife and baby, and thanked God for the
miracle.
" But it wasn't much of miracle
after all.
Little Johnny had been playing
around the door and lost sight of the
baby, and maybe forgotten all about
him, when he strayed into the woods and
saw the BEAR Then he remembered al
that he had heard of the danger of being
carried off and eaten, and of course be
had a terrible fright. When asked
about his little brother, be didn't know
anything about him, and | suppose
really imagined that the bear had go
him.
But the baby had crawled into ;
snug place under the side of the rain
trough, and there he was fast asleep al
the while. When he woke up two O.
three hours after, and the mother heart
him cry, her husband was far away OF
the hunt.
True,-this story I've told your
added the one-eyed hostler, as some on
questioned him. Every word of it 7
But your name is Rush, isn't it?'
/ said.
The one eye twinkled humorously.
My name is Rush. My uncle
brother-in-law was my own father"
And you" exclaimed bystander.
"I," said the one-eyed hostler, " an
the very man who warn't eaten by tn
bear when l was a babyp'
H.-z.Lnyl n-.-x.