The times., 1892-01-01
MY Bear Stcry.

1t was in April, in the year 1S4S, that l
took my rod and line and went through the
woods to Knaggs bridge for an afternoons
fishing oil the Shiawassee river. 1t was one
of those warm languid, sultry spring days,
that lured the bees from the hollow trees
and made the small boy disgusted with the
restraints of home. L followed the ''trail,"
or cow-path, which led from the little clear
ing where our cabin stood, through the
dense forest to the river. AT the foot of the
bluff, where the path reached the rivers
bank, halted and adjusted my hook and
bait for the expected sport. The melting
snow and the spring rains had swollen the
river above its natural banks, and it went
rushing and bubbling along, filling the
woods with strange musical echoes. At the
place where concluded to try my luck,
tall, slim maple tree, with q lack of grip in
its roots, or with an affinity for the river,
leaned far over the rushing tide. and lay so
close that some of its under branches
| touched the water. Seating myself on this
reclining maple, cast in my hook and gave
myself up to the joys of fishing. The soft,
moist wind, toying with my locks that pro-
truded from under my rimless hat, and
| creeping under and around my "hickory"
| shirt which seemed anxious to break away
| from the thraldom of my single suspender,
| the sport all tended to make me insensible
| to the approach of night, or to the fact that
| dark cloud was creeping up the western
| sky.
| was at last awakened to realization of
these facts by peal of thunder that seemed
to jar and rend the bank of cloud and send
a shiver along both forest and flood. Some
what astonished to find daylight almost gone
and tempest Of more than usual threaten
ing upon me, hastily sorted out 25 large
pickerel from my catch of two hundred or
more, made rope from some willow bark,
strung OH the pickerel, tied the rope in a
loop, threw it over my shoulder and started
to run up the bluff in the path by which
came, anxious to get home, il possible, be-
fore the storm burst. l had reached almost
the top of this, when dark object lOomed
up in the path directly ahead of me,
paused; the object did not pause, but came
directly towards me. One atfrighted
glance showed me that it was a bear, a bear
of unusual size, whose shoulders seemed to
| be as high as my bOyish head. With instant
| decision, born of fear, L turned and fled
down the steep path, hOtly pursued by the
bear. AS ran l thought of the leaning
| tree on which had sat in the joyous after
noon, and, stimulated by hope of possible
safety, l kept ahead of the bear and reached
the tree. l knew the boe of this tree was
| small, and thought the bear would not ven
ture on it. In this L was disappointed. The
bear slowly followed me along this slender
bridge, farther and farther over the stream,
the rushing water cleaning cOldly in the
gathering night | crept; nearer and nearer
came the bear. At last reached the sen-
der top branches, and they bent down until
my feet touched the water. Here l clung
while the bear, coming to the point where
these branches bent down at q sharp angle,
paused, and, reaching his head down as far
as he could, seemed to be considering what
next to do. Whether bruin, after few
moments reflection, concluded to turn round
and go back or not, do not know, and shall
never know. He made slight movement,
and Just then there was a flash of lightning
that lit the rivers path from bend to bend,
and a crash of thunder that shook the sur
rounding hills; and, with the flash and
crash, the bear came tumbling down upon
me, plunging us both into the whiring
river, 1, instinctively, caught hold of the
long, shaggy hair of the brute as we sank
together, far down in the water. When we
came to the surface still retained my hold,
and for self preservation, as L could not
swim, climbed upon his back. The bear
swan for the shore as direct as the rapid
current would allow him. This | did not
like, for once on the land he would make a
meal of me which he would relish all the
more after his bath | tried to turn him
from his course by striking him on the ear
with my hand, but this only angered him
and he made the greater effort to land. just
as he was reaching the bank, found 10y
holding my foot in the water away from his
side, as we hold on our still to turn u NOV
ing boat, could turn him in spite of him
self. turned him into the middle of the
stream, much to his disgust, as he growed
viciously and tried to reach my arms and
legs with his teeth.
The storm was now fairly upon us. The
lightning cut the dark sky into fantastic
charts and diagrams. The rain fell in tor
rents, hushing the song of the river. The
thunder Jared the solid earth and rolled
haway in deafening echoes.
My position, though interesting, was not
pheasant knew of only one house on the
banks of the river, and that was the frame
building called the "Shiawassee Exchange
which still stands monument OF pioneer
days, short distance below Knagg's bridge.
As we dashed past the high bank on
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