The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-03-27

we cctic 20 = soft piece Of Ground. In
1t was line OF curious large lspics,
which VIC had TO- take care TO avoid
stepping into. fell to stUdyini, their
shape. They were Is to 20 inches long,
10 to II inches wide and ) to q inches
deep They were in very regular
order, and crossed the soft places to
the hard ground beyond. Cook, too,
to closely examine one OF them No
ticing this, said:
Cook, what do you think of these
holcs?'
The rest of the party stopped when
we did, and formed circle, all gazing
ut the holes.
"'rhis certainly looks like some
animals track said Cook Did the
bear come this way|
Yes l said; he must have crossed
here
eff he made those tracks, Great
Scott, what Il beast he must bcI
Suddenly realizing that these were
the tracks of the animal we were after,
we nll looked at one another and then
around For few moments silence
rcigncd. We all found ourselves un-
consciously turned back to back, while
every eye involuntarily searched the
nils. Our courage slowly came back,
and we once more took up the trail,
but we were now looking for the other
division of our party quite as much US
Tor the bear. And, OH how cautious
~ we went. What lookout we kept,
Presently we overlook our friends of
the other party, who, having seen no
tracks, were pushing galantiy on.
This gave us fresh COURAGE and our
pace quickcncd. Our force was so nu-
mcrous through the addition of the
other party that we did not notice the
absence of several, among them the
representative of the Smithsonian in
stitution.
Some one had seen the bear enter q
small crooked gorge or canyon in the
rocks. Slowly we pressed into the
ravinc, cautiously pecring behind each
point of rock with rifles in readiness
for instant use. Walking was irnpossi-
bic, clambcring the only means of ret
ting ahead
I'VE were ali scrambling onward.
when heavy growl ahead brought
every one to sudden standstill and
caused the rear guard to execute a
hasty backward movement We stopped
so prccipitatcly that for few seconds
most of us were occupied industriouslv
in falling about the rocks and trviner
TO get on our feet again. We had found
the bear, and now most of us cherished
a secret hope that the impcdmcnts, TO
travel were fewer beyond him than
those which lay behind, and that he
might be minded to keep on going un-
til we should lose him again.
lie was close at hand, that was evil
dent, and there was no PREDICTING
what he would do. There was moth
ing for us, however, but to present Il
bold front and continue our advance.
We had come for that bear, and if he
would persist in letting us ovcrtal5c
him = well, it seemed reasonable
to assume that our nine or ten
rifles were sufficient to give any bear
his quietus if the shots were poured in
at once. We cautiously moved for
ward, pccring and craning our ncclls
over rocks, nervously anxious TO get Il
sight of the bear and rid ourselves of
the suspense.
Suddenly from the rocks above
camc the sharp crack of rifle, the
echoes of which were mingled with the
tremendous roar of the bear. Another
cracking report, another roar, and n
scramble. Then all was still but the
echoes among the crags.
Who's thcrc?' Who fired that
rfle?' Where is hop was asked on all
sides, but none could answer. Then
we heard the voice of Townsend from
the rocks above and ahead, calling:
I've got him! Hes dead! He's lust
above You in the canyon. How the
mischief can get down to him.?
with one or two sailors he had
scaled the cliffs that inclosed the cabin.
had caught sight of the bear from
above, and had sent in his fire at once.
His shot ranging downward had been
most fortunate, catching the bear be-
tween the shoulders and almost in
stantly disabling and killing him Had
the animal been merely wounded he
would have made sad havoc among our
party, hcmmcd as we were between
canyon walls with no chance to get
away. a lucky shot might have
stopped him, but some of us would
have been pretty certain to lose the
number OF their mess.
1--WE all scrambled on to where the
bear was lying, and razcd with admir-
ing awe upon his immense and formida-
bic proportions. He lay where he had
rolled in Il cleft in the rock, Il huge
brute, quite as large as an OK, and
stone dead. We had to send on board
for spars and tackle to hoist him out of
the ravine, and it took us half day to
get him on board. Once there, Town