Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-10-16

and be was coming straight Tor
ne. l waited for him 10 get clio Q
enough to BAT him with the canoe
paddle square between the eyes
1t dszed him a little, but 1T was
tar more disastrous to the paddle,
and when | Strengthened up from
delivering the blow | had only
about two feet Of the paddle left In
my hand. The rest of it, splinter
ed, was floating in the wake OF the
bear. He gave himself a shake
after hit him, and the next min
ute he had caught the side Of the
canoe with one of his big paws and
was manlfestlDg a violent desire to
get aboard with me. AS he weigh
ed about 400 pounds aud was as
DOW erful as a horse 1t did not re-
quIre very strong haul 10 settle
that part of the proceeding early,
aud instead of his coming aboard
With the canoe was upseut, and
went into the water with him.
"By this time a portion OF my
wits had returned, and | had sense
enough, as the boat went toward
the bear, to get off into the water
with the boat bteween the bear
AID me. was a good Swimmer
aud had a faint idea If | got head
ed toward thu shore | could out
swim my enemy aud get away, so
turned, as Soon as got straight
eued out III the lake, and put back
the other way. The bear IN the
meantime hal started around the
end OF the boat, coming my way. /
don't know what it was, whether
inspiration or fear or bravery, but
certainly it was something out Oi
the ordinary, tor as ! went
arOun d one end OF the t0Al
and the bear was at the other ol
quite near il | was Strucs with an
idea, and instead of trying speed
with the bear tor The shore | cOh'
cluded to try wits with him right
where we were. So swung on to
the end OF the canoe, which was
bottom side up, aud as the bear
came toward me, tilted tie other
end up, and with a sudden jerk,
dropped the inverted boat over the
bears head. The next minute l
was on top Of the bOnt with the
bear under me. guess lie didn't
know what had happened to him,
for he didn't seem to do anything
under there except to bump his
head against the bottom ana
growl. | thought at first he might
have sense enough 10 dive an"
come out on the other side; but,
! like turkeys that walk Into a pen
through a hole healing from The
outside into it, and, never once
looking down for the hole to gel
out at, run around in a crazy KIND
Of a way TIL they are caught tha'
hear staid under the boat with mt
on top of 1t, humping his head and
growing. By this time L was feel
ing a good deal like Napoleon
crossing the Alps, or Ike some
other great hero, and felt Sill
mora like it as noticed the bamp'
ing and the growing growing less
every minute until finally they
ceased altogether. | didn't uu-
derstand that quite and began tc
wander If the bear wasn't catching
on to himself and aud thinking OF
the easiest way to get at his clnner
when over in the clear water OF The
lake, a dozen feet or so from th'
boat, saw something big an
dark sloWlS going toward the bot
tom aud drifting away. Anothel
look convinced me 1t was my bear
, and another minute found M
swimming for the shore at 40 mil 81
a. hour, more or less. Half al
! hour later | was on the spot agar
with three men In big canoe, ant
) still half an hour later found us on
P shore with the body of the beaT
3 which we had recovered from th
+ water. 1t was clear case OF hu
uan intelligence the victor o
5 curse, but when any more Contest
like that are booked desire il III
: derstood that am not competing.
I The man who had told the dee
j. story heaved a profound sigh an
a looked at the bear story teller VII
o admiration.-New York Sun.
g Opportunities.
Il In one of the Greek cities tbel
@ stood long ago, a statue. Ever
n trace of it has vanished now, as
a .to o..a NTH most of thnHA oil,