The Van Buren press., 1895-11-02
THE 1DEvIL BEAR"


ssThere's another pig gone, dad,
aid Jack Monroe, coming early one
morning In September into the room
where his father was just getting out
Of bed.
"Jehosaphatl That's too bsdl" ex.
claimed the farmer. why, I taought
you and the other boys were going TO
watch the pen all night"
ssWell, 90 we did, and we had Turk
with US. too; but none Of US ever saw
nnythlng or heard . sound. guess
we must all have gone to sleep toward
morning, for when daylight came we
saw that the little Berkshire you set
such store by had been carried on and
the door of tho pen was wide OPEN"
why in thunder, then, didn't you
loose the hound on the track and fol-
low It right upg
"That'a the first thing We did" re-
3oined jack. ssOld Turk took the
scent Illustrate and stuck to II till II
ended at the river; then we had to
turn back
"But. Lord . mercy. boy! what BE-
came of the pig? That shoat weighed
full hundred pounds; surely the bear
couldn't hare luxged IL across The riv-
sr. nor up or down stream. either"
HE Just did. then; for there wasn't
: sign Of It anywhere. not even drop
Of blood.
mo, the old thiefs too cunning for
that. Iguess he always kills his game
by blow of its paw on the head. for
we've never found blood ON his trail.
Well have to get up another big hunt
and destroy the beast somehow. or
he'll half ruin us all. Are you sure,
though, that it's the same old bear?"
mo mistake about that" said Jack.
I'VE found the tracks of his feet in the
mud by the river. and one Of them had
only four toes. It's the Devil Bear,
sure enough"
Farmer Allen Monroe lived In q
eparsely settled neighborhood near
Marquette river, in northern Michi-
gan. For three years In succession he
and others In the vicinity had lost
numbers OF pigs, and even young
calves, through the depredations OF
an enormous black bear, who 1t was
supposed had his home somewhere
smong the rocks on Stony ridge. 9
wild tract of country lying across the
river few miles from Monroe's log
house.
The beast had often been seen-al-
ways out of gun-shot. and all observers
described him as being at least twice
the size of any other black bear-"as
big as three-year-old steer" one man
declared; but all attempts to trap,
shoot, or run him down by dogs had
proved utterly futile. His trail In
varlably led to the river, and there
every trace Of it was always lost.
Traps and spring guns had been set in
all possible ways, but quite In vain.
The former were always sprung and
the bats eaten, while the cords At
tached to the triggers Of the latter had
never once been run against by the
cunning beast.
There were lots Of other bears In the
neighborhood, ordinary animals o.
from one hundred to three hundred
and fifty pounds, which the local hun.
ters had no great difficulty in killing
but the tracks Of such were never con
founded with those Of the "Devi
Bear" las the old robber had come tt
be called). not only because Of the ire
mendous size Of the latter's footprints
but also because, some time In his in
nocent cubhood probably, one Of hi
hind feet had somehow lost toe.
Time and again, through spring
summer and autumn, experienced hun
ters had watched pig and calf pens
and pastures, and cornfields, too, wheI
the ears were ct to roast, in the hop
Of getting a sure shot At the marauder
but it was labor lost. Although OF
moonlit nights the crafty beasts hug
form was sometimes seen looming ul
like q black hillock between tn
watchers and the sky, he never cam
within rifle range, nor was he ever, 3
far as known, touched by any of tn
bullets which the baffied hunters wer
occasionally provoked into firing .
him.
When chased by hounds, perhap
three or four at once, II too far ava
from the river to reach II in advance {
his pursuers, the monster would sim
ply turn on them and strike each on
dead as it came up by single blow &
his paw. He had thus killed so man
dogs that, at the time my story OPEN
not one of any account, except ol
Turk. was left in that immediate neiRf
borhood.
The strangest thing Of all In regar
to the Devil Bear was that, althoug
every one believed his den to be 10 th
recesses of Stony ridge, no one ha
ever been able to find his tracks bs
tween there and the river. nor ha
any one ever seen him emerge fror
the water after once entering It.
In the winter. when this species q
bear always hibernates. the ridge snd
indeed, the whole countryside, ha
been persistently, but vainly, searche
for his sleeping place. Big, little an
medium-sized bears of both sexes Ia
been unearthed on these occasions
but the bedroom OF this particula
bear remained undiscovered; and whe
spring came round again he was o
ways on hand, lean and gaunt, bu
with an all-devouring appetite. Tn
mystery of the bears existence drov
some of his despoiled victims hal
crazy, yet none Of them could solve Il
vexed beyond measure by the loss G
his imported Berkshire pig, Farme
Monroe determined to organize gran
hunt for the demoniacal beast. So h
sent Jack, a tall young fellow OF nine