The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-08-28
FIELDS OF ADVENTURE.
THRILLING INCIDENTS AND DARING
DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.

oNesSS
Indians are really afraid Of" said
Egerton Young, the Baptist minister
who recently returned from a long So.
iourn among the Hudson Bay tribes,
where he was the pioneer missionary.
'sThat is the grizzly bear, the tiger OF
North America. Only once have L
heard of grizzly being captured alive,
and in that case the feat saved the life
of famous old warrior.
among many of the Hudson Bay
tribes it is the custom for the able
bodied to put to deathth the old men and
women who are no longer able to do
their share of the work. The old wo
men are simply knocked on the head
without ceremony. The process of
getting rid of an old man is more
elaborate. The Indians do not think
it well to stain their hands with the
blood of one who was once warrior.
SO they delegate the task to their
hereditary enemies, the wolves, to
which they render all assistance in
their power. When it has been de-
cided at q solemn powwow that any
particular old man is to die, instruc-
tons are given to number of young
men to take measures to get rid of him
Immediately. Among the executioners
are always the sons of the condemned
man. The day after sentence has
been passed these executioners call on
the veteran, attack him with stones
and spears, and drive him into the
wilderness. There they leave him to
his fate. A few days later they return
and collect few well-gnawed bones,
which they bring back with fitting
ceremonies.
"Among all the warriors belonging
to tribe with which 1 made long
sojourn, none had q more glorious
record than Miss-Miss. But Miss
Miss was getting old. His eyes were
dim, his hands were slow, and rarely
did he bring home fat buck Further
more, food was scarce, and MissMiss
retained an excellent appetite. One
morning Miss-Miss received orders to
be prepared to receive the next day
delegation of young braves led by his
two stalwart sons.
''But Miss-Miss, though he had
assisted in many such ceremonials in
his day, had not yet come to consider
himself old and useless. He was very
angry. Just as Miss-Miss had done
reviling the ingratitude of the young,
boy rushed in to say that huge
grizzly was feeding short distance
he III {1,1 .,
chance. All the braves were away at
the hunt. Children and squaws and
Miss were the sole occupants of
the camp. He. knew that to face
grizzly single-handed was certain
death, but it was the death of man.
SO Miss Miss armed himself with his
spear and tomahawk, and went forth
to seek the bear.
''He had not far to go. Within a
few hundred yards of the camp he
espied the largest and leanest bear he
had seen for years, making a scanty
meal off dried roots. Crawling up as
close as he could, he hurled his spear.
The weapon struck the bear in the
flank. AS he had calculated, the wound
had no further effect than to infuriate
the brute and turn his attention upon
him. Miss-Miss took his stand with
his back to tree, grasped his little
tomakawk firmly, and awaited death.
''Now had it been an ordinary little
black bear theperil of Miss Miss would
have been small A black bear would
have risen on its hind legs when it
came to close quarters, and, leaving
its chest quite unprotected, tried to
insert its paws between the man and
the tree in order to hug him to death.
All Miss-Miss would have had to do
would have been to wait until it came
within arms length and plunge his
hunting knife into its chest. One
thrust would have been sufficient.
But grizzly is different. 1t strikes
with its mighty claws. Miss-Miss
awaited the onset. When the bear
came to close quarters it rose on its
hind legs and made mighty, sweep
ing blow at his body. Setting his
teeth Miss-Miss struck at its head with
his tomahawk. The weapon was dashed
from his grasp and he was hurled to
the ground, but, much to his surprise,
uninjured. Instead of the sharp claws
in his side he had felt mighty h;1sfett
as IL from "a huge boxing glove Miss
Miss scrambled to his feet. The next
glance explained matters. Like him
self the bear was veteran. 1t had
lost its claws long since. Miss Miss
lodged round and round his tree and
from one tree to another. The bear;
whose sight was dim with age, aimed
blow after blow, with no other effect
than that of bruising it's paws against
the trunks. The fight went ON and
Miss-Miss's strength was giving way,
whe through an opening in the forest
he espied the blaze of the camp fires
close at hand. The bear saw it too,
and with grunt of disgust aud disap-
pointment turned round and trotted
back into the depths of the forest to
resume its meal.
Miss-Miss fastened back to the
camp and called the oldest of the boys
together. Take your lassoes,' he
cried, and we will capture grizzly
alive!' So out they went. When the
party arrived within range Miss Miss
whistled. The bear raised its head and
the boys cast their lassoes. One moose
fell over the brute's neck.