The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-10-02
MISS-MISS SPARED.
He CAPTURED THE GRIZZLY JUST IN
THE NICK or TIME.

There is but one beast that the Indi-
II are really afraid Of" said Egerton
Young, the Baptist minister who re-
Gently returned from a long sojourn
among tbs Hudson bay tribes, where
he was the pioneer missionary. THAT
is the grizzly bear, the tiger Of North
America. Only once have / heard Of a
grizzly being captured alive, and in
that case the feat saved the life Of a IA
NOUS Old warrior.
"4mong many of the Hudson bay
tribes it Is the custom for the ablebod-
led to put to death the old men and wo.
men who are no longer able to Go their
share Of the work. The old women are
simply Knocked on the head without
ceremony. The process Of getting rid Ct
M old ntan is more elaborate. The IN
dians do not tliuk it we'll to stain their
hands N1fh the blood Of enc who was
once q warrior. So they delegate the
task to their hereditary enemies, the
wolves, to which they render all assist
ance IN their power.
When it has been decided at 4 sol
emn poWwoW that any particular old
man Is to die, instructions are given to
q number OF young men to take meas
Ures TO get rid of him Immediately.
Among the executioners are ALWAYS the
SOILS Of the condemned man. The dav
after sentence has been passed these ex-
ecutioners 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 a few we'll
gnawed bones, which they bring back
with fitting ceremonies,
"Among all the warriors belonging
to q tribe with which | made d long So
Journ, none had a more glorious record
than Miss-Miss. But Miss-Miss was get
ting old. Ills eyes were dim, his hands
were slow, and rarely did he bring
home a fat buck. Furthermore. food
was scarce, and Miss-liiss retained an
excellent appetite. One morning Miss
Miss got orders to be prepared TO
receive the next day q delegation CT
young braves led by lis two stalwart
sons.
But Miss-Miss, though he had as
sisted III many such ceremonials i'll his
Gay, had not yet come to consider him
self old and useless. He was very angry.
Just as Mlss-Miss had done reviling the
ingratitude of the young d boy rushed
IN to say that d huge grizzly was feed
ing a short distance from the camp
Here was the veteran S chance. All tie
braves were away at the hunt. Children
and squaWs and Miss-Miss were the sole
occupants of the camp. He knew that
to face a grizzly single handed was
certain death, but it was the death CT a
man. So Miss-Miss armed himself with
his spear aud tomahawk and went forth
to seek the bear.
He Tad not far to 60. Within o few
hundred yards Of the camp he espied
the largest and leanest bear he had seer
Tor years, making a scanty meal eff
dried roots. Crawling up as close as lie
could. be hurled his spear. The weapon
struck the bear in the flank. As he had
calculated, the wound had nc further
effect than to infariate the brute and
turn its attention upon him. Miss-Miss
took his stand with his back to a tree,
grasped his little tomahaWk firmly and
awaited death.
Now, had it been an ordinary little
black bear the peril Of Miss-Miss would
have been small. A black bear would
have risen On its hind legs when it
anne 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 in
to its chest. One thrust would have
been sufficient. But a grizzly is differ
ent. 1t strikes with its mighty claws.
Mss Miss awaited the onset. When the
bear came to close quarters, it rose on
ITS hind legs and made a mighty, sweep
ing blow at his body. Setting his teeth,
M1ss-Miss struck at its head with his
tomahaW1. The weapon was dashed
from his grasp and he was hurled to
the ground, but, much to his surprise,
unlnJured. Instead of the sharp claws
III his SIDE he had felt a mighty buffet
as if from a huge boxing glove. Miss
Miss scrambled to his feet. The next
glance explained matters. Like himself,
the bear was a veteran. 1t had lost its
claws long since. Miss-Miss lodged
round ana round his tree and from one
tree TO another. The bear. whose sight
vas dim with age, aimed blow after
blow, with no other effect than that CT
bIuisin4 its paws against the trunks.
The FIGHT vent OF. and Miss-hliss,
strength YVES giving way. when through
al opening ii the forest ho espied tie