Arizona republican., 1893-01-24

the cliffs piece and see if we cal
 chance upon their retreat" We began
 the ascent and in an hour had left tn,
 declduous trees behind - the regioI
 grew wilder and made progress nor,
 difficult We scrambled through brusl
 and thicket, sometimes crawling pain
 fully up bare rocks, still wet and slip
 pery with dew, sometimes having tc
 descend abrupt places in sitting posi-
 tion. Once l missed my footing and rolled and slid twenty feet down a steep incline, clutching vainly at stones and roots only to pitch headlong into q thorny bramble that held me prisoner until Eltz hacked me out with his knife
 While was pulling the thorns out oi my flesh and clothes Eltz went forward to reconnoiter great Assure few hun. dred feet up the mountain side. When ready to follow him I noticed a lIestrel | hanging in the air, its shadow vibrat- ing at my feet Suddenly it swooped | downwards and then l spied its clear cut figure outlined against the sky at the top of a dead pine, and one foot clutched some small animal it's keen eye had marked for its prey. Right at the foot of the pine saw great dark moving mass which knew was bear It reared up and tore the bark of the tree with its great claws just like q | cat, then came slowly up the slope, evidently heading in our direction. It had not yet seen me, and lodging be- hind bowlders and stumps l hastened to join Eltz. He was on his hands and knees peering into a dark, low cavern when reached him and his eyes sparkled at the news I brought.
 Let's go into the cave and surprise the old fellow if he tries to get in," he cried.
 "Supposing his mate is in there?" I ventured to rcmonStratc, but he de- clared that all signs showed that the occupants were not at home, and be- fore l could find another objection he had seized my arm and dragged me in with him. The entrance was too low to stand upright, so we crawled for ward on our hands and knees, Eltz leading the way. We had hardly gone seven yards when Eltz drew back He had nearly gone headforemoSt into a hole. The rock dropped abruptly here, and l passed him my rifle. Lowering it by the shoulder straps he could just touch bottom. There was no time to stop, so we lowered ourselves careful ly and then passed around to see how much of a footing we had down there. Just then we heard the bear enter the cave. lt came with a rush, and as we tlattened ourselves against the steep wall it dropped at our feet with hoarsc grunt and went shuflling off into the dark. It 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 thrashing about and gruntiug some where in the depths of the cavern, but of course we could see nothing
 Lets get out of here," l whispered.
 All right" said Eltz, and he gave me a hoist up. As l struggled upward saw the great bear had seen coming up the mountain not two yards from the mouth of the cave, and I dropped down again, stammcring out:
 "IIcrc's the other one! Lie close to the rock for your lifc!"
 The great brute came shuffling in slowly and stopped when it reached the edge of the rock. Pcering upwards l could see it's huge head swinging slowly from side to side. It was snulling loudly and suspiciously. Would it de- tcct us?
 A deep bass snort came as if in an- swer to my thought, and saw its fierce red eyes glow as it glared upon us. The long-stretched neck tempted Eltz and he sprang up, knife in hand, but before he could strike I had pushed my rifle against his shaggy neck and fired three shots that tore it's throat out A deluge of warm blood streamcd 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 1 saw it half 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 hcadlOng The long claws tore through my boot and lac eratcd me badly. The other bear was frightful rOars, and as I lay half stunned and helpless on the ground never expected to get out of the place alive, for I believe Eltz would want to knife the other bear and in the dark he would have little chance of success. It was with a sigh of re- lief that I heard him mutter as he picked up my rifle, 'I suppose I must shoot, but hate to do it.. Then he sent shot after shot in the direction of the growls We could ot have re treated from her attack, but she died .amely without showing fight. Eltz helped me up, and we got out of as tight place as ever care to get into. The smoke of the rife and the musty smell of the cavern had half suffocated IS, and the din of the reports and the -oars of the bears rang in our heads for lays afterward. By the aid of tout stick and Eltz' | lrm got back to Erhardt's cabin to l pc laid up for the rest of the week with |