Tombstone epitaph., 1891-02-22
tUuLING 4 GRIZZLY.
Parson Ho1eyfoot's Adventure in
 the Mountains.
He shIRs Were Skinned, Hut BEain Didn't Succeed in Making n Meal of the PIoas Aan-QaeeF ABtLcs of a
 TaIl sIpIiRs.

| Tai sapItRg.
 "I never put myself up as much of a l bear-killer," said Mr. Gleason. rather i better known as ''Old George. of Cor ] mans Station, Los Angeles Couaty, to a l San Francisco Examiner man. As i matter of fact, during the twenty-five l years that I've been fOoliRg around the mountains 1t has been my practice to ! let 'em alone if they let me alone, and l if they don't let me alone to climb a 1 tree and let 'em get tired.
 But there was one time that broke my rule. have roasted with the fly l catchers more than one night rather 1 than get into a muss with 8 bear, and
 l never thought it was my business to iu- l terierc when somebody else vas doing the
 roosting, except this once. It vas about l twelve years ago. and Parson HoneyfOot ] was preaching around these parts, first ! in one camp and then in another. usual 1 y winding up here at GOrm ans on Sun ! days, when all the boys would come in i from the camps and mines after their l mail. l was coming down from the 1 Frazier mountain one Sunday morning, l and I saw right ahead of me on the trail
 a great big grizzly. He was across the
 cs.s:TUs from s5C, =;:;3 SS siS seemed SG t,a l going right ahead about his own busi- ] ness, just sat down and waited half an l hour to give him a chance to get out of ] my way. Just about the time was ready 1 to move on there was a smashing in the ] brush where had last seen the big l bear. and the blue buFro the parson l always used to ride came tearing and l praying down the trail. l knew him l by his having only one ear. He lost the i other fOOling around buzz up on the ! Sawmni mountain. l waited to see l what he was running from, but nothing l came, and pretty soon l logged on. i was kind of anxious about the parson
 and kept my eye out for him. After a ! little heard his voice shouting down in a gulch of the trail. and right away i found where the bears track turned of. 'If it had been anybody but the par i son Id have gone right on, but it seemed kind Of low down to shake preacher that way, so l took of through the brush in the direction of the noise. It was just about as nasty place to tackle bear as you would want. Nothing but thick manzanita and chaparraI that made travelling mighty slow and hardly a tree in range that a man could climb. All the smaller trees had been burned of in some of the mountain fires years before, and now there were only some little thin saplings that had come up since the fire. and big old oaks and bull pines that had come out Of the fire only ! scorched.
 Pretty soon I saw the bear He was chasing around a sapling, occasionally stopping to claw at the tree and shake
 it. From the upper branches of the tree
 came the calls for help. and pretty soon
 made out Parson HOneyfOot clingino
 tO the tree away up among the leaves,
 yelling and praying.
 Well, you ought to have seen that
 bear shake around that tree. Every
 minute l expected to see the parson let
 go and come a-tumbIin' but he held on,
 though his coat-tails Tapped and
 snapped around like the lash of a coach
 whip. l guess the grizzly kept trying
 for fifteen minutes, then he seemed to
 give up the scheme and lay down growI-
 ing to think up new one. It took him
 about five minutes to get a Few idea,
 but when he did he went about carry
 lAAE LE otzk " LII th EAoE ElN lAob EOE nOLQ of that sapling as High as he could
 hang his whole weight on it and bent the tree over a little, then be began to back away, changing his grip hand over hand. Of course, every step he took backward brought the top of the tree lower, and began to try for a sight be-
 bind the grizzly's ear.
 Still the bear kept backing, and Parson Honeyioot was almost to the ground. cooked my rifle and took rest over my knee, bccause it wouldn't do to miss in such place as that.
 Just as 1 was about to fire the old grizzly termed his head and saw the par son just behind him. He was so close that the bear simply let go and made a grab
 "Tbe tree, released from his weight, flew up, and She bear simply got leg of the parsons trousers, and the tree went up like a catapult-that's what they called it, didn't they?
 Ut shot the parson out ahead like a boy shoots stone from a springy shingle. Isag him sail across the arroyo with his Coat tails spread like birds tail He landed fair in the branches of big pine, forty feet from the ground, and thirty yards from the sapiing.
 That saved hin- The bear was dis gusted, but he went to the pine and started to watch and I climbed up into the sapling and from there pumped lead into him so fast that hc soon curlcd up-
 The parsons shins were skinned, but he wasn't hurt much. He couldn't stand the country, though, and went away. lie gave me the One-eared burro and he's packing my grub and blankets yet"