The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1894-11-08

Ing In terror before me. would fire
away recklessly at birds and ground
squirrels with my shining little rifle,
but although / had named it "Sure-
shot," doubt If I ever hit anything
except the trees and the rocks.
where's your game, boy?" Uncle
Phil would ask when returned empty
handed
''Well," would say, in reply, "the
shooting wasn't very good.''
''No, I don't s'pose it was" Uncle
Phil would say dryly; and then men
tally resolved that I'd show him wheth-
er could shoot or not.
One morning I rode down by the
mine with my rifle on my shoulder and
the cooks carving knife thrust into
my belt by the side of one Of Uncle
Phil's bowie knives. The handle Of a
pistol with broken lock appeared
above one boot-tOp, and I had two
long, shining rooster tail-feather faunt-
ing from my cap. I don't think that I
ever felt or looked quite so much like
a terror Of the mountains as on that
day.
swell, sonny" called out a miner
known as 'Shorty' Sampson, from the
top Of the mine dump, Eyer rugged out
ter kill something this time, sure, amt
We? Ye'd orter clean out all the bars
an lions an cattymounts there is in the
gulch, armed like that" .
you'd better 60 up by Big Pete's
cabin" added Jack Shaw, 'and put
bullet into the bar that come round
last night and eat up his supper that
was cooking while he'd gone down to
the spring for water. He see it a-put-
tin off up the mountain afterward,
but he said he was too tired to put after
it, an night was comm on, anyhow"
I supposed he was telling me this to
frighten me, but a moment later I
met Uncle Phil on the trail, and he
said:
"See here, Teddy, don't you go out
Of sight of the camp to-day, and don't
60 to nosing around in strange or dark
places. Big Pete Brennan saw a big
black bear up by his cabin last night
| It may be lurking around here yet,
and it wouldn't like anything better for
dinner than boy Of about your size.
! Now, mind what say, and keep near
the camp. Shin up tree and yell for
help if you see the bear.''
and resented it by saying loftily, II
guess old Fleetfoot and I can take
care Of ourselves, 'speshly when we've
got old Sureshot along"
''Oh, you can, eh?'' replied Uncle
Phil. I'm not at all sure Of that I
think you'd want to get home a little
faster than Fleetfoot could carry you
if you ran across old Bruin."
coi1
do run across him I'll bring home his
laughter and walked on, leaving me
longing for an encounter with the
bear.
Fleetfoot plodded along slowly to.
ward the cabin of Big Pete, big, gar
rulous Irishman, who lived alone in a
rude, hut-like cabin a mile from the
mine. He was now employed at the
mine and had brought the story of the
bear with him when he came to work
I guided Fleetfoot toward Big Pete's
cabin, determined to have shot if per.
chance he should return hoping to get
another meal. d.. .--. IT,.
had never before felt so courageous
and act ually hoped for a hand-to-hand
encounter with Bruin, for I felt that
I could take his hide back to Connect
cut without rifle ball in it.
All was quiet and intensely gloomy
around the cabin. It's hingeless door
stood loosely against the door-frame
and all the glass was broken in the
sash of the one small window. I step
ped into the one little, grimy room
of the cabin and glanced around. Then
cd IH1nntf0Nf IN q tI.on
the bride over a branch, and said:
"Now you just stand still until come
for you to lug bears hide home, old
fellow" 1 patted his shaggy black
sides, an attention he received with
his usual Indifference to either blows OF
caresses.
an exceedingly dense growth of low
pines, as was nearly the whole of the
mountain side; but plunged into the
thicket, rifle in hand, resolved to let old
Bruin know that Frederick the Reck
less,' as I now styled myself, was on
his trail
l tramped around in the woods for
an hour or longer, going a mile or two
from the cabin and returning by an:
other trail, finding, as thought, traces
Of Bruin. I was almost within sight
of the cabin, and was sitting down
tightening the spur on my right boot
!; when I suddenly heard the Swapping
of dry twigs near me.
I jumped to my feet, my rifle to my
shoulder and my heart in my mouth
My hands trembled so I could hardly
, hold the gun, and I am sure my face
must have been CHASTITY. A desire tt
, 81.
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