Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-07-22
FACING A GRIZZLY,
A BOY Kills On Angry Bear with
Blow of an AK.

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A BOY kills On Angry Bear with ,
Blow of an AK.
It was in September-and the Colo
RADIO sun had done it's duty and mad,
Thii as brown of face and stout of liml
as any of uS-that the geology class
consisting of the professor ard ten pu
pills, made an excursion i..tO the rang,
with the obj ct of taking n practica
lesson among the limestone beds at tn
back Of Lincoln Peak
Away we went-feeling very hilnri
GUS at the idea of making an indepe.d
ent expedition, even with Blinkers fo
a Notwithstanding over rocks ant
fallen trees. chasing squirrels and chip
munks, throwing stones at birds an(
rabbits. and behaving generally JUS
Ike what we were-a parcel Of school
boys.
Presently we emerged from the tree.
and came out upon another little open
across 1t our attention was suddenly Mt
tracted by a stir among some higf
grass, and out jumped little, dark-cOl
Ored, shOrt-legged animal, which looked
like woOlly pig-if there be any sucf
thing in nature.
Away 1t scuttled, and away we al
went, with a shout. in pursuit.
Phil happened to be some distance
behind at the moment, being busily en-
gagged in digging tarantula's nest out
of the ground with his knife; but as
soon as he saw what we were doing, he
came racing after us. shouting, Look
out! Look out! It's a"
We did not hear what, we were max.
ing so much noise ourselves.
But the little animal, whatever 1t was.
was too quick for us and disappeared
into some willows. while we were still
twenty yards behind The next moment
the willows waved and bent and out
bounced great she-bear-a grizzly!
With yell of dismay we all turned
and. scattering like flock Of sparrows
when a cat jumps into the midst OF
them, fled for the nearest trees. Blink
ers. quite forgetting that he was the
general of the little expeditionary
force made such use of his long legs
that he was safely up tree before any
of the rest of us nad reached one.
AS for me, never reached one at all
In turning to run 1 tripped over the
AK, and though Twas up again in an in
stant the check made me the last Of
the fugitives.
The chase was soon ov"r. In six
jumps, 1t seemed to me, the great beast
caught mo. and, with one blow of her
paw on the middle of my back. sent
me, face downward. to the ground, with
every ctom of breath driven out of my
body.
This last circumsta nee was good
thing for me; could not have moved 4
muscle if had wished to. Consequent
ly the bear supposed that was dead.
and instead of tearing me up into small
pieces. as expected, she began smiling
me all over and turning me about with
her claws.
Suddenly, however, she ceased and
began to grOwl, and 1 heard Blinkers
up in his tree call out. go back! You
can't do any good. You'll only get
yourself killed. too" From which |
concluded that Blinkers and the bear
had one thought in common; they both
supposed me- to be dead.
was beginning to recover my breath
a little by this time. and in my anxiety
to see what was going forward l made
n slight movement with one arm, and
In an instant the bear had that arm be-
tween her teeth. 1t hurt me so horri-
bly, that tainted. and all that happen
eel afterwards gathered from the other
boys.
Phil, when he saw me knocked down.
instead of climbing up tree like the
rest, ran back to where l had dropped
the ak. and, picking it up. advanced
to my rescue.
1t was a mad thing to do, there is no
doubt about that; but Phil did it-and
without n thought Of his own danger.
It as In vain that Blinkers called to
him to 20 back; he did not seem to b ear,
but kept coming on slowly, with his
eyes fixed on the bear, and the Ak held
In readiness to strike.
The bear dropped my am and ad
vanced a step, standing acrosr my body,
growing and turning up her lips until
all her great white teeth were exposed; ;
but still Phil came on. At six feet dis
lance he stopped. The bear took step
forward. and then another, and then,
with all the strength of his body dou-
bled by the intense excitement of the
moment, Phil struck at her with such
force. and precision that he split her
SKULL clean in two
But, even in dying. the bear succeed
e. in Going some mischief.
With n last cOnvulsive effort she
struck out, and, with her great claws.
tore away the front of Pills coat, vest.
and shirt, and made three deep cuts
all across his chest from the left shoul-
der diagonally downward. Another
inch and Phil must certainly have been
killed. AS it was, he stood for mo-
ment swaying to and fro, and then fell
forward upon the dead body Of the
bear.-St. Nicholas.
Th3nam0u Geoa a piano