The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-10-09

proves with the boxing-gloves now
served him in good stead. Almost in
stinctvely he lodged, and felt the
moist mouth of Mr.. Grizzly on his
cheek. He reached for his knife, but
before he could draw it the bear had
seized his hand and sunk his teeth
through it. Just as he went to the
ground under the weight of his gigantic
opponent, he yelled to Clark, ed,
Ed they've got mel"
Clark appreciated the circumstances
at once and fastened to his friends re-
lease, and none too soon. The nervy
little Texan tells me that when he
pushed the bushes aside with his rifle
he saw Frank crushed into clump of
willows with the bear top of him,
growing and snarling and biting at the
bushes in his rage. Franks head was
under the grizzly's fore shoulder and he
was hugging the brute to him to pro-
tect his Uranium. Clark was afraid to
shoot at vulnerable spot for fear of
killing the wrong party, so he let drive
at the BEARS flank. With howl of
pain Old Slvertip quit his hold on
Frank and leaped upon his unexpected
assailant. Clark says he never saw
ANYTHING done so quickly in his life.
Why" says Clark, "the brute
knocked the rifle out of my hands and
jumped stradde of my neck as soon as
l pulled the trigger. Oh, he was a
scrapper from Texas, you bet" 1t was
now Clark's turn to yell, "Mr. Frank,
he's got meW
Imagine his CONSERVATION to receive
the answer from Frank: "That's all
right, Ed, but another one has got me"
1t was even so. Frank had no sooner
jumped to his feet to go to Clark's
rescue, than-biff! he was slapped side
the head and laid out by another
grizzly, and it is a solemn fact, unpar-
alleled in any account of bear-hunt-
ing ever printed, that two men were
under two bears at one and the same
moment within fifteen feet of each
other, and with no power of mutual
assistance. And here occurred the
strange and almost incredible feature
of this adventure-the miracle by which
two human lives were saved. The
bears left the men of their own accord
and almost at the same instant. Why
they did so is almost beyond conjecture.
In talking it over around the campfire
night after night we have figured it
out that they must have frightened each
other.
The one who left Clark (much to
| Clark's relief was killed by Frank just
as he leaped upon him the second time,
and fell dead with the muzzle of the
rifle against his throat. This enabled
them to escape, and as they crawled
out of the Jungle Clark said to Frank,
" Are you hurt much, Mr.. Frank?"
eyes, Ed, Pm all chawed up, but I
want to thank you, old fellow, for saw
ing my life. Clark, you are all man."
"The same right back at you," said
the Texan, extending his hand.
"With you behind me, Mr.. Frank, l
would fight fifty grizzlies"
AT a safe distance on the mountain
side, they dressed Elmer's wounds
(Clark did not have as much as scratch)
and then proceeded more Systematically
to slaughter bear. Clark heaved rocks
into the thicket, and when the grizzlies
charged out at them Frank would let
drive with his rifle. They captured
the whole five, and the balance of the
camp went out next day for the hides
and tallow. Franks wounds were rather
numerous, but none of them dangerous,
and only one Ohe one through the
handD particularly troublesome. His
chaparels probably saved him some
pretty hard bruises, for they were torn
and scratched in many places. When
he first rode into camp l thought we
had dead man on our hands, for he
was reekiug with blood and his clothes
were nearly torn off him. The entire
seat of his breeches with slight
chunk of Elmer Frank beneath) had
disappeared, and he was altogether
sorry looking object.
Trapping bear is of course tame COM
pared to a hand-to-hand combat with
them in their own grounds-an oppor-
tunity which rarely occurs and is still
more rarely sought after. But after all,
it is pretty wild sport and not unat-
tended with danger. To have an old
grizzly rear on his hind legs and shake
one hundred pounds of iron at you, as
if it were baby's rattle, is magnifi-
cent exhibition of strength. If it hap
pens TO be Cinnamon, the chances are
that he will climb the nearest tree, trap
and all, to the length of his tether, and
then you can have all the sport you
want with him. Yesterday l gazed
into the eyes of mountain lion we
caught-large, tiger-like eyes, with a
depth of ferocity in them that no Ian
guage can describe. 1t fairly made me
shudder. To trap bear you must first
set your trap. This is done either with
hanging bait with the trap under it.,
or (what is betteD with pen. The
pen is triangular structure, made out
of logs and bushes, with only one means
of ingress. Here we set the trap. AT
the further end of the pen is the bait.
The bait consists of the putrid remains
of an elk, deer, antelope or steer (slow
elk, as they are called) Before it is
placed in the pen a portion of it Ohe
most savory and odoriferous) is dragged
with lsriat for mile or more to es-
tablish good trail to the traps. Thi,
is called drag.
Another thing deem quite remark
able, and that is the freedom from bore
dom we enjoy, considering the intimacy
| of our relationship. To be sure, Sweet