The Penn's Grove record., 1896-11-20
A -KIND.HEARTEo E a
Il LITE a Little Child in Its Paws
and Puts Her In q Place of safety.

tue huSSldu VI vera r Au~cLhuoNbhg
1t Is an Incident that occurred In 1S47.
In the Trans-C Caucasian German colony
of Elizabethal, about thirty miles from
Tiiis. A picnic party discovered a
large bear (called "Mikhail Iyan'itch'
and General Toptygin" In Russian on
q narrow ledge of rock high up In .
gorge. This is what followed:
All at once a simultaneous cry OF
pity, terror, horror, broke from all.
From behind the crag a little girl made
her appearance. The tiny colonist was
eve Or eight years old; not more. She
a strolling along with her arms
crossed carelessly on her pink apron. A
large hat of coarse straw, such as all
the ~colonlsts, whether young or old,
wear In hot weather, had fallen quite
over on the nape of her neck; and sur
rounded by this ~aureole, 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 q dreadful death!
And not one Of them could help herl
No one could either save her or even
warn her of her danger.
ALI were condemened to gaze, mac
dive, at the dreadful event which was
on the point Of happening before their
eyes.
The women raised a cry, and fell to
weeping. The majority Of them sobbed
themselves Into Mysteries beforehand.
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 1t almost came In contact with
her. The huge beast completely block.
ed her road. His left paws stood on
the very edge Of the path, while with
his right side he almost rubbed the clif.
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 pres.
ence to the beast as he was walking
along with his muzzls and eyes droop-
ed earthward. They stared fxedly at
each other. The little girl was petri-
fed with fear; the bear halted, In In,
decision, no doubt much astonlshed II
not frightened. For n moment, prob
ably, he reflected: what am ! to do
now?" It was impossible to pass with
out crushing the unexpected obstacle,
without striking it or hurting 1t 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 donef
Down below the people waited, with
bated breath, expecting at any moment
to see the unhappy child pushed into
the abyss. But evidently that was not
the way In which fulfilled and good-na-
tured "Afikhail Ivan'itch, General Top
tygin," 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 trem'
bling silence. And "Mishenka" car
cied out his will.
With q 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
elm, clasped his forepaws around her,
lust 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, especially the
huntsmen, who were acquainted with
the murderoua habits Of the bear fam,
Ily, leaped In spirit, and with a hope
q mad hope--for the child's safety
They perceived that Mishka was be
having In q very remarkable manner
with all the caution and dexteritJ
which he could command.
They were not mistaken as to his IN
precedented goodness. The kind-heart
Cd bear lifted the little girl mp, careful
" bore her over the preclpice. and
turning on the pivot, Of his hind paws
set her down on the other side of the
path.
Having performed this gymnastit
exercise, the bear. without waiting te
be thanked evidently he was we'll &C
ouAinted with the human race, whirl
Cd about, dropped on all fours, and pro
eeeded quietly on his way, swayins
from side to side, and grunting content
edly In anticipation or sweet repose IL
Ais Lair not far away.