New Ulm weekly review., 1886-12-01
70 passed on and was lost among. the


he passed on and was lost among the.
trees. 3ss
/ remained otionlessfor nearly an,
hour fearing to descend. ThenI crept
noiselessly in the direction whence old
Clubfoot had come. Ny rifle, which
must havefallen against the prostrate
trunk by which / found it, was broken
short off at the breech, the bear hav-
ing struck at it with his. paw In pass
ing.
Imagine my surprise when emerged
from among the trees tofnd the same
little grass plot where / had killed the
deer. At first l could not believe It.,
but there was the spring with the rock
by which / had sat, and the remains
OF my luncheon lay scattered on the
ground. ! was tired, as we'll as weak
and nervous, after the fright the bear
had given me. But it was becoming a,
question of life or death, and was
not willing to die. Carefully gathering
the scraps of bread and meat l had
thrownsaway, / resolved to follow the
nearest canon down to- Its, mouth,
which was sure would lead me out
into the open country somewhere.
The sides were so steep that had
to let myself down by clinging to roots
and overhanging branches. I Iplodded
on doggedly. In the heart of the can
ons unnumbered horrors lurked, and
the rocky walls rose on each side of
me, towering insurmountable. 1 be-
gan to wonder if had better so back,
when I was startled to see open before
me what seemed almost bottomless
pit. The declivity was probably not
mora than fifteen feet, but it looked
very terrible to me. I could not leap
that distance, nor could climb
around the steep slippery sides. "A
tall tree grew from the lower level,
however, and by leaning far out
caught g. branch and thus climbed
down.
l felt certain that now I must be
very near the valley floor, for I had
been descending long time. Behind
me, in the hollows of the canon, the
shadows of evening were already ly-
ing. had sprained my ankle in the
descent-an injury that at any other
time would have disabled me. hut
now could not be allowed to impede
my progress. limped along, hoping
and fully expecting to see, at turn
ing not far off, the valley before me,
the green fields, and the dwellings of
men.
How were my hopes Knocked when I
found, instead, a precipice fully sixty
feet deep. With cry OF horror, l
drew back and wrung my hands in
despair.
Had been saved from the jaws OF
a savage beast only to die more ter
ribly by starvation, or to be dashed
to pieces in a rocky chasm?
Nature had never seemed to me so
pitiless.
The stony walls looked down at me
in awful silence. The yawning preci-
plce at my feet seemed waiting with
sickening expectancy.
Before this | had been afraid to
speak aloud, for fear OF rousing some
wild animal; but now / felt that [
should be glad to see or hear anything
with life, even if it were savage. |
shouted myself hoarse, but only
strange echoes answered ME from the
frowning woods.
The shadows grew deeper. Imust do
something-anything.
1t occurred to me to make q rope Of
some OF my clothing, and thus de-
scend. It was the work of but a mo-
ment to take off my long stockings
and tie them together. and then to
add my scarf. All this made only
four or five yards in length. I tore
the skirt of my stout waterproof suit
into strips. which tied together, un-
til had what seemed enough. Then,
fastening stone to one end, I crept
to the edge and let the rope down to
measure the distance. 1t still lacked
a little. The deficiency was soon sup
piled from the sleeves of my Jacket.
The root OF a pine afforded a conven-
lent place for attaching the rope; and,
having first tested every foot Of it, to
make sure that it would bear my
weight, l was ready to swing off.
Several times Hooked over. and my
head grew dizzy. [ decided to 90
backward, to obviate that difficulty.
Fearing my shoes would be hinder
ance in my clinging to the rope,
pushed them over, together with my
cartridge belt. Another instant OF
hesitation and heart-sinking, and l
was fairly off.
[ reached the bottom sore and
breathless, but safe. Another trial
awaited me. In the gathering gloom
| could not find my shoes, and the
sharp stones cut my tender feet at
every step. Moreover, ! dreaded rat
tlesnakes, and listened with painful
acuteness for the warning Ibid
not hear anything, and soon lost that
fear in my overpowering anxiety to
reach some human habitation.
1t grew dark so rapidly that had
to use my stick at every step, as q
blind man does, to feel the way be-
fore me. Before / had CROPPED along
many rods my guide gave me timely
warning Of q chasm. Feeling for a
stone, hurled it forward and heard
it strike far down below me.
| could 60 no farther-at least until
daylight-so, drawing back a few feet,
sat down to wait. l was so weary
that immn6iato1vy foil ac1onp woa