Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-11-03
A KIND HEARTED BEAR.
1t Lifts Little Child In Its Paws an,
j, as Ct

Puts Her In Place of Safety.
Miss Isabel F. Hapgood translates
for st. Nicholas a true story from
the Russian of Vera P. Zhelikhov-
sky. 1t is an incident that occurred
in 1S47, in the TranScaucasian Ger
man colony of Elizabeththal, about
30 miles from Tifis. A picnic party
discovered a large bear called Mix
hail Ivan itch and General Top
tygin in Russian) on narrow ledge
of rock high up in q gorge. This is
what followed:
All at once a simultaneous cry or
pity, terror, horror, broke from ali.
From behind the crag little girl
made her appearance. The tiny col
onist was Z or S years old, not moro.
She was strollifg along, with her
arms crossed carelessly on her pink
apron. 4 large hat OF coarse straw,
such as all the colonists, whether
young or old, wear in hot weather,
had fallen quite over on the nape of
her neck, and surrounded by this au.
reole, all flooded with sunlight, the
poor little thing stepped out on the
path which skirted the cliff on the
brink of the abyss.
The poor child was going to her
death in plain sight of many men
and women-and to what dreadful
death And not one of them could
help her! No one could either save
her or even warn her of her danger.
All were condemned to gaze, in
active, at the dreadful event which
was on the point of happening be-
fore their eyes.
The women raised q cry and fell
to weeping The majority of them
sobbed themselves into mysteries be-
forehand. The men, even those who
had been in battle more than once,
who had beheld death and blood,
said afterward that they became
cold and dizzy, and many turned
away their eyes in anguish. But
those who endured the ordeal, on
the other hand, beheld a marvel.
Because of the turn in the path
the child could not see the terrible
fellow traveller who was coming to
meet her. She only caught sight Of
that dark brown shaggy mass at the
moment when it almost came in
contact with her. The huge beast
completely blocked her road. His
left paws stood on the very edge of
the path, while with his right side
he almost rubbed the cliff. They
caught sight of each other almost at
the same moment.
Probably a cry or an exclamation
on the part of the child revealed her
presence to the beast, as he was
walking along with his muzzle and
eyes dropped earthward. They star
ed fxedly at each other. The little
girl was petrifed with fear; the bear
halted, in INDIGESTION, no doubt much
astonished if not frightened. For
one moment, probably, he reflected,
What am I to do now?" 1t was
impossible to pass without crushing
the unexpected obstacle, without
striking it or hurting it into the
abyss. The path was so narrow at
this point that he could not even
turn round on all tours. What was
to be done?
Down below the people waited
with bated breath, expecting at any
moment to see the unhappy child
pushed into the abyss. But evident
ly that was not the way in which
full fed and therefore good natured
Mikhail Ivan itch, General Topty-
gin had settled the problem. He
wished neither death nor harm to
this tiny creature, helpless before
him, with open mouth and staring
eyes, having lost through fear all
power of crying and awaiting his
will in trembling silence. And Mis-
henka carried out his will.
With a faint growl, caused not by
anger but by the necessity of putting
himself to trouble, he reared up on
his hind legs, strobe close up to the
little girl, and. bracing his back
against the cliff, clasped his fore
paws around her, just beneath the
shoulders.
Shrieks and groans of despair re-
sounded from below. The ladies,
who still continued to gaze with dim
eyes, grew faint, but the men, espe-
cially the huntsmen, who were &C
ouainted with the murderous habits
of the bear family, leaped in spirit,
and with hope-a mad hope-for
the child's safety. They perceived
that Mishka was behaving in very
remarkable manner, with all the
caution and dexterity which he
could command.
They were not mistaken as to his
unprecedented goodness. The kind
hearted bear lifted the little girl up,
carefully bore her over the preol-
pice, and, turning on the pivot of
Ill ->c,,.r. cot 6or down on the