Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-08-11

viciously at his body. Claudio had
not stoppe1 at all; but now, within
thirty saris, he haitei aud watched
for the brute to give him shot at a
vital part. But in that very instant
the bear, with q shuttle OF rage,
wheeled aud came galloping at his late
pursuer.
Claudio drove square shot at the
skull-not in any notion that he could
bore that sloping forehead, but hop
ing the rap might startle the. beast
into rising, so that he could get q
chance at the throat, the best of all
shots at bear But the heavy ball
merely plowed q red furrow up the
squat skull. and the bear came lurch.
ing on. it was worse t:1n useless, to
run. Slender as was the chance Of
llfo now, it all lay in standing firm.
Within SIX feet the huge brute did
rear UP his launches; AMI, sprinsine
back a step, Claudio was bringing
down his weapon to "Ict go when it
should be or level with that mighty
throat, now fully exposed Ru. the
bear was no innocent aud, cleverly
ludgeu as was Claudio 5 move, he ne
met his match in quick wit. Even
the sweep Of his swift arm was slow
beside the flash Of that great paw as
it swooped far forward, met his de-
scending hand with a calculation an
Indian eye might have envied, and
sent the heavy revolver spinning forty
feet, going off as it flew. And in an.
other in slant the shepherd was on his
back and the bear upon him.
The great claws had struck only tho
ix-shooter, and Claudio's hand was
unhurt, save where the violent wrench
ing of the guard had cut and twisted
his fingers; and :ns.inctively he
gripped deep in the thick fur where
first his hands lighted. Neither had
he been hur. by the fall, for here was
soft gray sand-which little relieved,
too, the fearful pressure upon his legs.
But none of these things comforted
Claudio; and he fought only as man
fights blindly to the end. His last
faint hope had gone when the six
shooter went whirling far beyond
reach.
The bear, which hal gone to bed in
his cave in the canon Of Acebache, roll
ing fat, in November, but few days
ago come forth from that long nap,
the shadow of his proper self. His
long, heavy fur was sadly rusted, and
his huge frame lean as a rail. He had
been interrupted in tie ..rst square
meal in five months; AID from taat
long fast came two strange results,
One was, that he was not half himself
in strength; and that the powerful
Young Mexican was therefore some
thing more than puppet in his paws
F., Of the end certainly, there could be
no doubt; but meantime, Claudio
| wrestled nightly, and even succeeded
in struggling to his feet, husging close,
| to give those paws no chance for the
| swipes that would make an eggshell Of
his head. His face he snuggled into
the bears chest, and SO kept clear of
the dripping jaws. And despite the
| fearsu! pressure under which his ribs
creaked and sprung, he launched and
tuged and swayed blindly aad desper%
atelv, as wrestling with some tall man
whom he might hope to pitch at last.
| But it was not for long
Finding these close quarters unsatis.
factory, the bear brought up his mus
cular arm, and clapping its paw upon
Claudio's mat<of hair foIced his head
resistlessly back. The great claws were
buried in his scalp, aud little streams
of red spurted out. The bears left
arm was around his waist. while the
right was giving him thet break hold
as scientifically as any wrestler could
have done And now villslnous
warm breath came sickeningiy ii HI:
face. and he could see the red Jaws and
white teeth within six inches. he
even noticed with that strange incon'
sequence which comes upon man IN
these moments, that blood from the
scalp wound had run down and tingee
the frotn which dripped from grea
mouth. In frenzy OF terror h
caught clutch under the throat, tt
hold back that horrible head-and tn,
strongest man could scarce have ben