The Van Buren press., 1897-11-13

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zly standing ever ne. while al
around. not more than 20 Yards away.
were great gaunt. hungry coyotes.
They bad gathered in great numbers.
and SAW IN moment what had saved
NY life thus far. They were afraid 10
venture upon the bear while he held his
prey. and he could not begin ripping up
his captive while they stood around.
strong in numbers and emboideHed by
famine. Whenever the grizzly pat his
head down to take hold of me. the
coyotes instantly began to crowd near
er, whereupon be raised his head with a
warning growl and they fed 70 d safer.
distance. This occurred not once or.
twice but a dozen times The very fact,
that | am here to-day, gentlemen. is
due to a gang of coyotes thatwould have
torn me into a good many fragments if
they could have had their way
But the brief respite came to an
end. The bear, tired OF being defrauded
of his meal, decided "a drag Il 70 some
more secluded place. and there feast at
his leisure. He made ore last charge
upon the coyotes and then. rushing
back, seized my shoulder again and
started eff in a trot 4 few moments OF
agony were followed by another faint
ing spell. and once more, happily. I was
uneonseious. When I recovered the
same bowling. raging pandemoutum
was going on around me. Added mum
bers had made the coyotes more eour-
ageous, and they were pressing close
upon the grizzly. lie had not vet begun
to deyour me. He would stand over me
and growl for a moment and then make
onslaughts upon the enemy. scattering
them like ehaff. Is I turned To watch
him in one of these violent attacks I
was startled TO find that l was living
just before the door Of one Of my
brother Ned's bearpens in the lower
mountains. 1t was a little house. built
and rooted with logs securely clamped
together. The door was raised and
fastened to the lever that connected
with the trigger inside. l had helped
to build 4 dozen Just like the one near
at hand. Al first my thought was Of the
grim joke il would be on Ned's bear
trap 70 have his brother devoured by a
bear right in front Of il. Then some
thing else occurred 70 me. The bear
came back and stood over me. His
mouth was open 70 shut down on nv
neck and finish this story for me.
could feel his hot breath On nv
face, when the coyotes made 4 rush. and
one Of them actually seized my foot.
The grizzly rushed after them furious.
y. Now was my opportunity With SUI
perhamau exertien born Of a highly
desperate condition of affairs l rose
upon my uniHjured knee. and half
scrambled half rolled into the pen. Be
fore | was we'll in | could hear the huge
brute coming on a run. | crawled an
other foot further-tOo. late-nO. I
reached the trigger with the tips of my
fingers, and down shot the pouderous
door. seraping the grizzly's nose as il
fell. was shut up in the bear pen.
What moment that was in nv life.
II l were to live a thousand years.
should never forget it. How the brutes
did rage outside. \ hundred times they
walked around the pen, the bear officiat-
ing as chief mourner, and the coyotes
skulking after him and bowling dis
mally. As for me, lay stretched on
the ground inside and laughed and
cried. and cried and laughed. for my
nerves were gone all to pieces, and l
had a spell of what would have been
Mysteries if l had been a woman. Some
times varied theperformanee by faint
ing comfortably away. with such
blessed sense of security, and when
walked again l cried and laughed some
more. l staid ehere and kept house in
that bear pen l don't know how many
hours. and all the time my broken leg
ached horribly.
After awhile a fusillade Of shots
reused me. and l saw the grizzly rise
upon his launches. Then some more
shots sounded and he fell. with faint
struggling motions of his arms The
coyotes rushed at him first, but a few
more shots scattered them.
The next l knew there stood my
brother Edward. looking down upon
me in the bear trap. l was suffering
too much TO observe the expression
of his face, but he was astonished
beyond expression TO see me alive be-
fore him. He was accompanied by my
two miner aequaintaucsS of the night
before. III be hanged ii il wasn't the
closest call with a grizzly bear | ever
heard of, was the only exclamation the
miners could make.
You see it happened this way. My
frightened horse tore like mad through
the timber. and passed the miners in the
canyon. They knew at once that an ac-
cident had befallen me. They started
Immediately TO hunt me up, when they
came across my brother Ned, who had
come up for another days hunt with
me. They saw where l had passed
through the chaparral, and where |
had been thrown from my horse. The
prints Of the bears feet had given them
reason TO believe l was done for. and
the blood on the ground assured them
of a frightful death had met. Ii was
four OF i've months before l could get
about without crutehes, and il was sew
eral weeks that l lay critically i'll at
my brothers ranch with my shattered
limb. The doctors say il is marvellous
that I lived through the first month. !
still feel pain where the break occurred
whenever the weather is damp, and 1
cont suppose / shall ever get over the
horrible sensation of that July day,
when had my life saved6y the coyotes.
Do Won wonder that / have a tender