The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-10-27

all kinds of cats, wild or tame. Tame cats
would eat corpSes-what would not wild
cat do? Rather death by robbers, rattle
snakes, anything on earth, than by the
teeth and claws of wildcat!
He watched that terrible tail rise in the
air and switch and snap and swell and ex-
pand till it was even larger than the mon
ster's own body. And then he fired, took
1t between the eyes and galloped on; while
Its falling body struck the leader of the
pursuing robbers and so terrified the band
by Its cries and claws and teeth and ex-
parding tail that they gave up the pursuit
and he came right on to Egypt to rest and
restore his shattered nerves.
Now this story is all right enough, ex-
cept that there is no more timber on the
top OF the Rocky Mountains than there is
on the banks of the Nile. There ere no
rocks there, as rule, no narrow passes,
but all as broad as pasture. Another
slight objection to the story is, wildcat
has no tail, no more tail than an elk or a
bear, or a rubber boot.
Alas! such men have given California a
sad reputation for carelessness as to the
cold, frozen truth when telling their tales
of hair-length escapes; but, as before OBJ
served, there are Californinns and Califor-
mans: And now to get along with Colonel
S. and his bear. But, mind you, there is
nothing very much to say about him, no
great adventure to tell He was certainly
no such story-teller as that Californian up
| the Nile, for, as said before, his tales were
all true and simple-certainly not blood
curdllns and contrary to nature at all, as
was that Nile story. But you try sitting
by roaring bright fire in the high Sierras
on cold night after hard day on the stage
coach, an old friend, two giggling big boys
10 heap on the logs, pretty rosy young
widow to listen and to laugh-well if you
don't take up some dead mans story and
make yourself the hero of it shall won.
der.
Remember when we used to 60 out
Sundays to the foot of the highest peak in
the Sierras and shoot bear, just to see 'em
roll down hill to us?" says Colonel E.
Yes, yes-had to have telescope guns
great fun to catch black bear between
you and the white snow as he takes walk
around the tip of peak"
That's SO, colonel; but you and I aren't
as young as We used to was, so I've kept q
place for you; boys know where it is
right down the river there in my own close
great big NOISY log where bear came tc
catch fish. You first go out on the farthest
end of that log, light cigar, lie down
with your head on q little cross log there i:
there-done it dozen times my.elf-and
If we don't have bear steak for supper to-
morrow night miss my guess, powerful u
Sure, pap" gigsled the boys, after dig
EiuS tHeit elOo"s ihto eacn otncr Oach Dy
the wood heap, near the door, and they
shyly came forward and volunteered to
show the way, do anything, even to clean
ing and loading and setting the sights OF
the great bear gun for close range.
| Boys know all about bears in the Ser
ras. Not a boy there but knows about
| forty times as much about them as we do,
but they won't tell it; they only giggle
and nudge one another with their elbows
when yo1 want to talk bear with them
met two boys up there last summer lead
ing an old she bear and her two cub. to a
place where other bear would come to catch
fish. These tame bears are used as decoys.
as tame elephants are used in Africa. But
these boys only giggled when 1 talked
about danger, and dug their bare big toes IN
the dust OF the trail, while the old she
bear nosed my pockets for nuts, and the
| baby bears lay down and locked arms and