Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1892-12-16

sight "The brutes are getting on,
their winter fat and arc too lazy for
anything, said Eltz, LET us climb up
the cliffs a piece and see if we can
chance upon their retreat" We began
the ascent and in an hour had left the
dcciduous trees behind = the region
grew wilder and made progress more
difficult We scrambled through brush
and thiclSct, sometimes lcrawling pain
fully up bare rocks, still wet anl slip.
perry with dcw, sometimes havi ing to
descend abrupt places in o sitting posi-.
ton. Once missed my footing and
rolled and slid twenty feet down a steep
incline, clutching vainly at stones and
roots only to pitch headlong into a
thorny bramblc that held. mc aprisoner
pntlEltz hacked me outwith bis Knife
While was pulling the thorns out Of
my flesh and clothes Bltzwent. forward
to reconnoiter greatfssure few hun
dred feet ". the nodntain side, When
| ready to fellow him gnotceda kestrel
hanging i1{'thc air, its, Shallow vibrat,
ing at my feet. Suddenly.it swooped
'downwards and then spied its clear
cut figure outlined against tho sky at
the top of a,,deadf pine, and one foot
clutchcd some small E.animal its keen
eye had marked for itsprey. Right at
tho foot ofthe pine. saw a great dark
moving mass which, knew was bear
1t reared up and tore tie bark of the
tree with its great$claws just like
cat, then came slowly up the slope,
evidently heading in our direction. 1t
haft not yet seename, and sdodging be,
hind bowlacrs and stumps ] hastened
to join Eltz. He was on his hands and
knees peering into a dark, low cavern
when / reached him and his eyes
sparllled at the news | brought.
Lets go into the cave and surprise
the old fellow if he tries to get ill.," he
cried.
i'Supp0sing his mate is In there? l
ventured to remonstrate, but he de-
clared that all signs showed that the
occupants were MT at home, and be-
fore | could find another objection he
had seized my arm and dragged me In
4 with him. The entrance was too low
to stand rtoright SO we crawled for
ward on our hands and knees, Eltz
leading therSay. I'VE had hardly gone
seven yards when 1Gltz drew back. lie
had nearly gone headforemost into n
hole. The oek.dropped abruptly here,
and passed him smyal itle. Lowering
1t by the shoulder straps he could just
touch bottom. There was no time to
stop, so we lowered ourselves careful.
~ and then passed around to see how
much of n footing we had down there.
Just then we heard the bear enter the
cave. 1t came with rush, and as we
flattcned ourselves against the steep
wall it dropped at our feet with a
hoarse grunt and went shutting off
into the dark. 1t came SO much sooner
than we had expected that we had no
time to explore the cave and determine
on our plan of attack We could hear
it thrashins about and grunting some.
where in the depths of the cavern, but
OF course we could see nothing.
"Let'sget out Of here" whispered,
"All right" said Eltz, and lie gave
me hoist up. AS | struggled upward
saw the great bear had seen coming
up the mountain not two yards from
the mouth of the cave, and dropped
down again, stammering out:
''IIcre's the other one! Lie close to
the rock for your life!"
The great brute came shuflling in
slowly and stopped when it reached the
edge of the rock. Pecring upwards /
could sec its huge head swinging slowly
from side to side. 1t was snufiing
loudly and suspiciously. Would it de-
tect us2 ".
A deep bass snort came as If in an
swer to my thought, and saw its fierce
red eyes glow as it giarcd upon us.
The long-stretched neck tempted Eltz
and hespraug up, knife i'll hand, but
before he could strike had pushed my
rife against his shaggy neck apd fred
three shots that tore its throat out. A
deluge of warm blood streamed down
upon us, the walls of the cavern rang
again and again with the cracking re.
ports and the horrible roars of the NOR
tally wounded brute. In the dim light
and through the smoke saw it shah
fall, half spring over the ledge. We
jumped out OF the way, but the cave
was so narrow that one great paw
struck my foot before could get away
and threw me headlong The long
claws tore through my boot and lac
Grated me badly. The other bear was
uttering frightful roars, and as lay
half stunned and helpless on tho ground
l never expected to ge. out of the
place alive, for l believe Eltz would
want to knife the other bear and
in the dark, he would have little chance
of success. 1t was with sigh of re-
lief that | heard him tnutter as he
picked up my rife, II srppose | musi
shoot, but | hate to do it." Then he
sent shot after shot in the direction OF
the growls. We could OF have re
treated from her attack, but she died
tamely without showing fight Eltz
helped me up, and we got out of as
tight place us ever care to get into.
The smoke of the rifle and the musty
smell OF the cavern had half suffpcated
us, and the din of the reports and the
roars of the bears rang in our heads for
days afterward.
BY the aid of tout stick and ,ltz
arm got back to Erhardt's cabin to
be laid up for the rest of the week with
pretty sore foot Eltz aud the for.
ester set off the next morning, and
lighting up the cave with torches they
skinned the bears aud brought 3acl,
the furs and fine ham before night
The great bear was as large q male
brown bear as either had ever seen and
his fur was exceptionally fine and
, glossy, but the female was n small
specimen, ana her hide bus of ordinary