The Grenada gazette., 1888-02-04

gun dowa for momsHf, and. bend
ing ovei reached doan to Tho bottom
Of the stump for the deal cub II was
then quite dark. had The carcass Of
the cub in my hard. and was just
raising my heal aud shoulders out Of
the hollow Of the stump. when ! heard
a tremendous crashing and jumping
In the thick undcrbrush Of the wooda
The old she bear was coming for me
peli nell, and l knew it. She had
heard her Cubs squaliing and The re.
port Of the gun. l had just time to
ihr ow the dead cub down upon the
ground and snatch up my rife when
the beast was almost upon me. In
reaching down into the stump my
cartridge box had been pushed around
to my back. and !! lost several
precious moments N reach.
ing back there 5or smmuni-
ton. Then. too. ! must confess !
never was SO nervous in all may life.
The increasing darkness about me
added much to my fear. had Just
time to raise aud fire at the old bears
head. had to aim for the eyes and
missed my aim. My hand. ! know.
must have ,rembled somewhat al
though have been a hunter up tha.
way for several seasons. The ball
broke one of bruins fore-paws. The
next knew she had pounced upon
me in ferocious anger l stumbled
over the roots Of the hollow stump
where was standing and fell upon
the ground with my gun beneath me-
l felt instantly that my time had come,
and involuntarily yelled Help. help"
two or three times. The beast was
upon me in a second more. and rubbed
her snout about my face. ! kicked
her dozen times in the belly. and
vainly tried to push her from me. Il
was the most horrible moment for me
you can imagine.
The beast had claws as sharp as
needles and as long as my fingers, and
with them she scratched away my coat
sleeve and hunting jacket in short or
der. | thought my ribs would be
scraped of all their flesh. l tried 10
turn over and was attacked in the
face. Ny cheeks and eye, as You see.
were torn by The beasts claws. and
tho pain was excruciating, but that
was nothing to the horror Of my situa.
ton. You can believe Inever expect.
ed to be here at home again. Ny
tough buckskin hunting jacket and
breeches protected me somewhat from
the bears claws, and / believe my
bowels would have been quickly torn
open if it had not been for my thick
and heavy hunting belt about my
waist. As it is, you see am fearful.
ly torn and gashed, and the doctor
SAYS those are my worst wounds.
Well, l turned upon my side, and half
pushing The beast, which was afraid
each second would hug me to death,
from me. l managed 10 get hold OF my
rife to beat her brains out
if / could. But could not
rise. and in another instant the beast
was upon me with her full weight 1t
seemed as il should be crushed. /
could feel the bears teeth in my
flesh, but was so Tiled with thoughts
Of death at the hands of the brute
that I dill not feel any pain. l strug-
gled and fought with MY bare hands
Ike demon.
At that very moment heard the
sound Of some one approaching, and
before | knew it my brother Philip
was there 1t was then quite dark.
Philip did not stop a second. He
pnlled my rife out from under me
and hammered upon the bears neck
and head with the stock of the gun
some of the hardest blows he ever
struck. The animal was stunned and,
letting loose Of me-. I scrambled upon
my feet. felt around for a stick Of
wood. with which the ground was
covered. and tried to help my brother
kill the bear by blows. but was too
weak. The beast was effectually
stunned and. having sunk helpless
upon the ground. Philip reloaded the
rifle and put several balls into her
had N Y Time,