The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-04-11
A BEAR HUNT.

with hunting party or young bucks thdl
were securing the country for buffalo sign
in the neghborhood of Pumpkin buttes.
The party had divided mp ana spread ont
over the country in twos and threes
Long Dog and / and young buck named
Two Knives struck of together up
through the cottonwood timber that
fringes the river for q width Of half a
mile or so. Before going far we BOWED
over a fine buck elk, and started Two
Knives back to camp with the carcass.
Long Dog and 1 kept on up through tie
cottonwOods. An hour or so after parting
company with Young Two Knives we
caught sight OF big silver tip bear on the
other side OF the river He was standing
on his hind legs, digging the touchwood
out of hollow tree. This Is iaVorte
pastime Of bears, and particularly brown
bears and silver tips, who have keen
partially for the big, fat inch grubs that
make their home in tie decayed cotton
wood.
The bear was so absorbed in his pur-
suit that we had no trouble in wheeling
our causes around and retreatng out OF
sight without attracting attention IL
was about 800 yards from where we stood
10 the bear, and Long Dog and | both
agreed that 10 pump lead at silver tip AZ
that distance would be merely waste or
good ammunition.
"What had we better do, Long Dog'"
said /.
Ugh, heap KILL" replied the Injun;
and pointing down the river, be led the
way in an almost opposite direction from
the bear We continued on down 10 IA
ford. where a bend in the river hid us
from the bear, and crossed over. Riding
on up the other side short distance we
hitchcd the bronchos behind Il clump Of box
aldcrs and proceeded cautiously toward
the bear. The immcdiate edge OF the river
was thickly fringod with box alders and
mountain willows. and through these We
at length began to crawl on hands and
knees. with the idea Of taking the silver
tip by surprise at close quarters. With
an old seasoned lnjun hunter Of
Long Dogs caliber leading the way,
this part Of the proceeding was easy
enough lie wormed and twisted through
the thick willows as slick rs beaver
without ever swapping a dead twig. All
| had 70 do was to crawl along in the
trail close behind We had almost got TO
the point where we had been expecting 10
be able TO use our Winchesiers with some
certainty when Long Dog halted, and,
without uttering a grunt reached back
and tapped me cautiously on the back
with his mocCasin. As the old Injpn
looked back over his shoulder and raised
his finger as q warning for me 70 lay low,
his piercing black eyes glowed and
twinkled like pair OF black diamonds
with excitement.
OF course, naturally supposed he was
merely worked up some over suddenly
catching sight Of the bear, perhaps, a lit
tie nearer than he had been expecting.
Seeing me peer inquiringly through the
brush in the direction of the tOuchwOOd
tree Long Dog raised one duSl1y finger,
and, without moving another muscle in
his body, pointed it toward n clump of
willows standing, / should say, thirty feet
TO the right of tho tree, and about three
times that distance from us. The space
between our ambush and the clump WAS
quite open, and was traVersod by a deer
path that led up from the water. The
deer path led straight through the willow
clump. and. following the direction Of
Long Dogs finger, l saw, in the narrow,
alleylike deer path, n long, catlike tail
waving TO and fro. It was the tail Of
full grown mountain lion, an object famil-
lar enough 10 me, for | had killed round
dozen Of the varmint in my time. No
part Of the lion was visible save his tail,
for the willows were thick between us
and his body
Long Dog seemed 10 comprehend the
situation at once, for when ( glanced ut
his finger the next moment it had turned
like weather vane and was pointing in
the direction of the bear With the keen
perception of savage, the old injun
hunter knew at glance that the mountain
lion was lying there watching the move
ments of the bear, aud hadn't the least
suspicion of our own presence. Our
situation was thrilling one, even for an
old hunter From where We lay, scarcely
daring 10 draw breath for fear Of betray
ing our presence, We could see one side Of
the silver tips big hairy body as he stood
up and clawed away at the hollow tree,
and on the other hand there was the
mountain lions four foot tail waving 10
and fro in the narrow deer path like the
tail of an angry cat. All Of a sudden,
biii went big tawny object through the
air rs quickly and noiselessly as if it had
been the flash Of shadow But now the
silence, which had hardly been violated
at all by the industrious bear at the Tree,
was broken rudely by whole woodful of
savage roars, yOuts, snaps, snarls and
stand offs Under the cottonwood tree
stood big mountain lion IN an attitude
Of defiance, scowling at the bear, which
looked anxious to attack him and yet
half inclined 10 back away
There is always something unspeakably
comical about bear 10 me, whichever
way you take him, and even under the ex-
citing conditions of the occasion The old
silver tip seemed 10 me 20 wear clown
ish look He stood there few moments
weaving his big numbering body back
ward and forward, as though he didn't
care pine needle whether the lion in.
tended tackling him again or not. Yet
we could see the blood gently oozng
out Of the long silvery wool on his shout
der, where the mountain lion had gouged
into him when he made the spring; Tor tho
tawny shadow we had seen flash through
the air was the lion as he sprang on the
unsuspecting bear.
a low excited ugh" from Long Dog
md another motion of his FINGER cauSpd