The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-05-10

up the mountain side and disappeared
 over the edge of the summit.
 "Then I started after him. The slope
 was very steep, and in the rarified air
 of the high altitude climbing was slow
 work. But what glorious scene it led
 me to! When I came up to the edge of
 the summit 1t was to look forth upon a rough and undulating ice plain many
 acres in extent, reflectipg the suns rays
 in tints of white and crystal. Uncom-
 pahgre lowered high above it, but on
 every other hand the many summits in view rose to heights inferior or only
 equal to that of the glacier. Upon the
 ice field, five hundred yards from where
 [ was, the elk had laid himself down.
 Against the smooth surface about him
 he presented, with his branching horns,
 a striking picture, the only living thing,
 except the eagles, in sight, His course
 on the ice was marked by a trail of
 blood, and he evidently had sunk down
 exhausted, not to rise.
 "As I peered over the edge, debating whether I had better at once try to ap-
 proach him, another actor appeared on
 the scene. From behind some snow
 bound rocks off to the right huge sil-
 ver~tipped bear emerged suddenly upon
 the ice field. He walked out short
 distance upon the ice, stopped, looked
 around and snuffed the air; then start
 ed toward the elk, his long loose, shuf- fling pace taking him along much faster
 than would appear merely from looking
 at his motion. The wind was blowing
 in a direction to carry his scent from
 the elk, that did not seem to be aware of his coming until he was close at hand. Then the elk started to his feet to face him. but fell upon his knees. The bear went straight upon him, pulled him down by the head, and broke his neck with one powerful twist. He wasted no time in prelimfnaries, but fell at once to tearing and devouring the carcass.
 "By that time, as the elk's fate was settled, and it was now Q question of possession between the bear and me, decided to take hand again In the per for1nance. I was then a novice in Rocky Mountain hunting, and I thought at the moment only of the fine chance I had to bag a silver-tip, trust ing to my light Maynard rife with q tenderfoot's confidence that was not at all justified by it's calibre and carrying qualities. I started with no more ado across the ice to interrupt the bear at his dinner. I was somewhat apprehen- sive, not from sense of danger-far from it-but for fear he would run away before I could get within easy shot. I might have spared myself any concern on that account. The bear was too busy at his repast even to look at T I,, ha ho1 to him. He looked up from time to time as I came nearer, then fell to tear ing the elk again.
 "It was not until was within hun I dred yards of him that lie seemed to take my coming seriously; then he stopped his eating to growl in deep bass note that seemed to shake the air like the distant muttering of thunder, lifting his head and looking at me in a way that made me for the first time re- alize what I was venturing upon. The chill and desolation of the frozen land- seape suddenly impressed me as they had not done beforei and the proximi- ty of Q tree convenient for climbing would have added vastly to my comfort just then. The absence of such fea- ture made me unappreciative of thesI grand and savage spectacle that the'l bear presented as he stood facing me, his forefeet planted on the elk, his mag niflcent coat of black and silver brist- | ling and changing in shade as the hairiI slightly shifted in the wind, while the low, intense monotone of his growl vi- | brated thrillingly through the silence of l the ice field above the clouds.
 "The growl increased to a roar and l I stopped. It was well for mo that I | did so at the moment, for I checked my 1 steps at the edge of a wide rift in the | lee that yawned deeply at my very feet. | So absorbed was I in watching the bear that I had not perceived it. As 1 drew l hastily back large fragment of ice | broke from under my feet, and heard | t crash and splash far down in tor rent whose rushing I should have heard before had not my attention been who'll y taken up by the more portentious | sound of the bear. He had already l seemed on the point of starting for me, is was evident by the thrusting for ward of his head and tho uneasy nov ng of his shoulders. My backward spring and the crash of the falling ice vas all that was needed to determine he matter with him, and in another in- Itant he was over and past the elk and coming for me at a shambling pace so swift that it seemed literally to swal- ow the space that lay between us.
 Tt was time to get my rife to work lnd to shoot fast, and I gave him a bullet aimed at his breast a little to the II eft. The only effect of the shot was to hange the bears shamble to a gallop. Ny rife not being of a. magazine pat n,.r, hn 4 tn rn1it in q frnah nn i.tridrrn l